Updated
Hurricane Irma has roared into the Caribbean with
record-setting force, battering the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with
powerful winds and rain on a potentially catastrophic path towards the
United States by the weekend.
Key points:
- Hurricane Irma is the most powerful storm ever recorded in its location
- The storm has destroyed properties and knocked out communication between islands
- It is expected to rip west through Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba towards the US
- Irma comes on the heels of Hurricane Harvey which just battered the south-eastern US
Irma, the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever measured and roughly the size of Tasmania, destroyed homes and flooded streets throughout a chain of small islands in the northern Caribbean on Wednesday, passing directly over Barbuda and leaving the island of some 1,700 people cut off.
France has sent emergency food and water rations to the French islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy, where Irma ripped off roofs and knocked out all electricity.
Dutch marines who flew to three Dutch islands hammered by Irma reported extensive damage but no deaths or injuries.
The category five storm — the highest hurricane nomination by the US National Hurricane Centre — had maximum sustained winds of 295 kilometres per hour.
The Hurricane Centre said winds would likely fluctuate slightly, but that the storm would maintain its monster strength over the coming days.
"We have a lot to fear for a certain number of our compatriots who unfortunately didn't want to listen to the protection measures and go to more secure sites," France's minister for overseas territories, Annick Girardin, said.
"We're preparing for the worst."By early Wednesday afternoon (local time) the centre of the storm was 35 kilometres east-south-east of St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and 150 kilometres east of San Juan, Puerto Rico while heading west-north-west at 26 kilometres per hour.
The US National Weather Service said Puerto Rico had not seen a hurricane of Irma's magnitude since Hurricane San Felipe in 1928, which killed a total of 2,748 people in Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and Florida.
As the eye of Hurricane Irma passed over Barbuda at around 1:47 am (local time), phone lines went down under heavy rain and howling winds, that sent debris flying as people huddled in their homes or government shelters.
Antiguan police were waiting until the winds dropped before sending helicopters to check on reports of damage in Barbuda.
In Barbuda, the storm ripped the roof off the island's police station, forcing officers to seek refuge in the fire station and at the community centre that served as an official shelter.
The category five storm also knocked out communication between islands.
US President Donald Trump declared emergencies in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, and authorities in the Bahamas said they would evacuate six southern islands.
Irma is the second powerful hurricane to target the region in as many weeks.
It comes on the heels of Hurricane Harvey that killed dozens of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more in the south-eastern United States of Texas and Louisiana.
'Nothing like we've ever seen': Caribbean battered
Photo:
People boarded up windows in preparation for Hurricane Irma in Puerto Rico.
(AP: Carlos Giusti)
(AP: Carlos Giusti)
The eye Hurricane Irma is so far predicted to rip westward on a path taking it a little north of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.
"The dangerousness of this event is like nothing we've ever seen," Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said.
"A lot of infrastructure won't be able to withstand this kind of force."The northern Leeward Islands were expected to see normal tide levels rise by as much as 3.3 meters, while the Turks and Caicos Islands and south-eastern Bahamas could see surge of six metres and higher waves later in the week, forecasters said.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said his Government was evacuating six islands in the south because authorities would not be able to help anyone caught in the "potentially catastrophic" wind, flooding and storm surge.
People there would be flown to Nassau in what he called the largest storm evacuation in the country's history.
"The price you may pay for not evacuating is your life or serious physical harm," Mr Minnis said.
Emergency declared in Florida
On Wednesday, the storm seemed almost certain to hit the United States by early next week.
"You'd be hard pressed to find any model that doesn't have some impact on Florida," said University of Miami senior hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy.
In Florida, people stocked up on drinking water and other supplies.
Florida Governor Rick Scott activated 100 members of the Florida National Guard to be deployed across the state, and 7,000 National Guard members were to report for duty Friday when the storm could be approaching the area.
A state of emergency has been declared in all of Florida's 67 counties.
Officials in the Florida Keys geared up to get tourists and residents out of Irma's path, and the Mayor of Miami Dade County said people should be prepared to evacuate Miami Beach and most coastal areas.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the voluntary evacuations could begin as soon as Wednesday evening (local time).
He activated the emergency operation centre and urged residents to have three days' worth of food and water.
The Hurricane Centre in Miami said hurricane-force winds extended 85 kilometres from Irma's centre and tropical storm-force winds extended 280 kilometres.
Photo:
Supermarket shelves are emptied as preparations ramp up for Hurricane Irma. (AP: Patti Blake/News Herald)
AP
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