Hurricane-force winds extend 80 miles from its core and tropical storm-strength gales reach out 220 miles, which is about the same distance as between Boston and New York.

“We are about to get our own version of what hell looks like,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said in a CNN interview.

Just over two weeks after Hurricane Harvey struck the heart of U.S. energy production in Texas, Irma is threatening another region with almost $200 billion worth of damage. Irma's wrath has already roiled markets, sending insurance stocks plunging and orange juice futures surging.

At least 1.6 million homes and businesses in Florida had lost power by noon, according to Rob Gould, a spokesman for Florida Power & Light, the state's biggest utility operator.

1st major hurricane to hit Florida since 2005

The storm's path forced the largest evacuation in Miami-Dade County history and sent millions of Floridians fleeing. It's the first major hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma in 2005 and has already laid waste to the small island of Barbuda, killed at least 25 people and left thousands homeless across the Caribbean.

The storm's track along Florida's west coast “is almost, if not, a worst-case scenario for Tampa Bay,” said Rob Miller, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. “It shoves all the water into Tampa Bay and then shoves it right into downtown.”

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Just before Irma's landfall, Enki Research disaster modeler Chuck Watson said the storm's trek up Florida's coast could cost $192 billion and threatens $2 trillion of property. Total losses from Katrina reached $160 billion in 2017 dollars after it slammed into New Orleans in 2005.

Irma is “easily on track to be the new No. 1 storm unless intensity collapses,” Watson said.

The system was about 65 miles south-southeast of Naples, Florida, and moving north 9 miles per hour, according to a 1 p.m. update. The storm could make a second landfall in Florida near Marco Island or Sarasota late Sunday and a third near Apalachicola in the state's Panhandle region on Monday. By then, Irma may have weakened because of wind shear.

A crane atop a building under construction in downtown, center, collapsed as Hurricane Irma passed by, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami. The crane collapsed in a bayfront area filled with hotels and high-rise condo and office buildings, near AmericanAirlines Arena, according to a tweet from the City of Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

'Enormous destructive power'

In Washington, the House of Representatives said lawmakers shouldn't expect planned votes Monday because of absences caused by the storm, according to an announcement by the office of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. And President Donald Trump described the hurricane as “a storm of enormous destructive power.”

In Miami, at least two construction cranes collapsed under the force of ferocious winds, leaving them teetering on the sides of buildings under construction.

Firefighters ventured out in an armored vehicle to inspect one on downtown Biscayne Boulevard, said spokesman Captain Ignatius Carroll. Fire officials asked neighbors to take refuge on the other side of their buildings.

“We don't want anyone looking out their windows or going near there, because they could be hit by debris,” Carroll said.

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Along flooded Brickell Avenue, side streets became tributaries and wind whipped up whitecaps on water coursing by office buildings in the financial district.

At the J.W. Marriott hotel in the neighborhood, guests were pulled into an emergency shelter in the fifth-floor ballroom as cell phones started beeping weather warnings. Hotel staff set up a video screen to play movies, provided board games and even a special room for pet care. Speakers played soothing lounge music, and a giant video screen cycled images of tropical beaches.

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Recently planted palm trees lie strewn across the road as Hurricane Irma passes by, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Storm surge

The Tampa Bay area may be hit with a worse storm surge because the continental shelf there is relatively shallow for as much as 90 miles offshore, said Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The last major hurricane to hit Tampa was in 1921, Masters said.

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On the city's Bayshore Boulevard, the waters of Tampa Bay had actually receded as much 200 feet Sunday morning. Detritus such as discarded beer cans and sea shells could be seen atop muddy sand that until recently had been covered by the water.

Downtown, the commercial center, the port and cruise terminal were virtually deserted as rain increased and winds picked up. Buildings were fortified with boards over windows and three-foot walls of sandbags at the doors.

Geoff Rutland, 40, a lifelong Tampa resident, and his wife, D.J., decided to ride out the storm with five other families and a pastor in the Crossing Jordan Family Worship Center.

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At an ice vending machine about a block away, there was a line as much as 30 deep. He helped others tie ice bags, fill coolers and keep calm. During a phone interview he repeatedly paused to refuse tips from those he helped.

“I'm not here for money,” he said. “I'm just here to help people.”

A billboard is ripped apart by high winds along Interstate 95 Northbound as Hurricane Irma passes by, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

In other storm news

• Irma may wipe out as much as 20% of the citrus crop in the world's second-largest orange juice producer.
• Airlines have canceled 10,699 flights, according to air-traffic tracker FlightAware.
• Jose, the third major hurricane of the 2017 season, was passing well north of Puerto Rico with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles an hour and is expected to linger over the western Atlantic for several days.
• Hurricane Irma has caused $12.7 billion of damages across the Caribbean, according to German's Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction.
• More than 4.4 million customers of the state's two largest utilities may lose power, based on company forecasts Saturday.
• NextEra shut a reactor at its Turkey Point nuclear plant and planned leave a second online given how the storm's path has shifted.

Related: Are your customers prepared to weather the pitfalls of hurricane season?

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