Fading Irma Still Proves Deadly

Irma moved into the Southeast on Monday as a tropical storm, not a hurricane, but it was still deadly: Authorities say there were at least three storm-related deaths in Georgia and one in South Carolina, along with flooding in cities including Jacksonville, Fla., and Charleston, SC. Police in Georgia say the storm's victims include a man killed when a tree fell in his house, a man blown from his roof, and a woman who died when a tree fell on a vehicle, the AP reports. In South Carolina, a falling tree limb killed a man. Irma has now weakened from a tropical storm to a tropical depression which is forecast to drop 5 inches to 8 inches of rain over South Carolina, northern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi in the coming days. The latest:

• Irma, which put Atlanta under a tropical storm warning for the first time, gave Georgia a hammering that caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights and left at least 1.3 million people without power early Tuesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

• In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott advised patience for evacuees anxious to return home, CNN reports. "Don't think just because this thing passed, you can run home. We've got downed power lines all across the state," he said Monday. "We've got roads that are impassible still across the state. We've got debris all over the state."
• The hard-hit Florida Keys will partially reopen on Tuesday to allow residents to assess damage, Reuters reports. Navy ships including the USS Abraham Lincoln have been sent to distribute food and evacuate some of the 10,000 residents who rode out the storm. Authorities say they aren't sure how many people were killed by the hurricane.
• The damage in most of Florida was not as catastrophic as feared, but Irma left an estimated 12 million people, or two-thirds of the state's population, without power, the Washington Post reports. Authorities warn that some customers could be without power for weeks if parts of the system need to be rebuilt.
• Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports will reopen Tuesday with limited service, the Miami Herald reports. Public schools in Miami, however, are closed until further notice, and Miami-Dade County is under a mandatory 7pm to 7am curfew.
• In Orlando, the storm claimed another victim Monday when a 51-year-old man was electrocuted by a downed power line in a park, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

(Florida residents got their first look at the damage Monday.)