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Irma heads north and leaves trail of storm damage in Caribbean Record-breaking Hurricane Irma wreaks havoc across Caribbean: 'It's apocalyptic'
(about 5 hours later)
Hurricane Irma, the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, continued to tear across the northern Caribbean on Wednesday, leaving a trail of devastation as it relentlessly pursued a course towards the US mainland. Hurricane Irma, the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, claimed its first victims on Wednesday as it wrought a trail of devastation across the northern Caribbean and pressed relentlessly towards the US mainland.
Caribbean islands including St Barts, St Martin and the British overseas territory of Anguilla took a direct hit from 185mph winds and storm surge of greater than 20ft. The French government reported two deaths and two serious injuries on the islands of St Martin and St Barthelemy, which were among the first to suffer a direct hit from Irma’s 185mph winds and storm surge of up to 20ft. No further details were immediately available.
In St Martin, 230 miles east of Puerto Rico, officials said government buildings had been destroyed. Roofs were ripped from homes in St Barts and Barbuda, areas of which were under water. Power cuts were widespread and tens of thousands of people were in shelters. In Barbuda, where the monster storm first made landfall at 1.47am on Wednesday, according to the US National Weather Service (NWS), 90% of structures were destroyed. The report came from Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, in an afternoon press conference after he witnessed the damage first-hand. His visit followed a 12-hour communications shutdown from the island.
As the first damage assessments from the northern Leeward Islands began to emerge, residents of the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were bracing for a strike later in the day. In French-controlled St Martin, 230 miles east of Puerto Rico, officials said government buildings were destroyed and roofs ripped from homes in St Barts, areas of which remained under water.
The massive storm, which picked up pace and intensity as it travelled westward across the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea, was set to aim on Thursday at the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and the southern Bahamas. Michel Magras, senator for St Barts, said in a text to a media company in France that the island had suffered a catastrophe. “I am shocked by the monster that covers us,” he wrote. “The island is devastated. It is apocalyptic, a lot of damage, many roofs destroyed.”
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami warned in its latest advisory that Irma was then expected to take a hard turn to the north at the weekend, lining up a possible strike on south Florida, home to 7m people, by Sunday afternoon. Gerard Collomb, the French interior minister, observed that the four wrecked government buildings in St Martin were the sturdiest on the island, “which means that more rustic structures have probably been completely or partially destroyed”.
“Irma is a very powerful, very dangerous storm. It’s a scary sight to see this kind of system affecting people,” said Michael Brennan, a senior hurricane specialist at the NHC. From the Dutch half of the island, known as St Maarten, video posted on social media showed yachts smashed together in a marina and cars submerged in several feet of water. Dutch interior minister Ronald Plasterk said he believed the destruction on the island was “enormous”.
“It’s a very dangerous situation for the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and much of the Bahamas, and everyone on the Florida peninsula and in the Florida Keys will want to keep an eye on this.” Elsewhere across the region, including in the British overseas territory of Anguilla, power cuts were widespread and tens of thousands of people remained in shelters.
Irma made its first landfall in Barbuda at 1.47am on Wednesday, according to the US National Weather Service (NWS), with sustained winds of 185mph, gusting to more than 225mph. The meteorological office of Antigua lost contact with its weather station on the island shortly before the eye of the storm crossed the coastline. People are concerned, they are scared. Puerto Ricans cannot fathom what a category 5 hurricane is about
Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said in a tweet: “The Lord has protected us and we have been spared the worst of Irma.” The first damage assessments from the northern Leeward Islands emerged as Irma continued its record-breaking westerly march, lashing the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday afternoon.
But images of wrecked buildings from St Barts and St Martin appeared to reflect more significant damage. Michel Magras, senator for St Barts, said in a text to a media company in France that the island was “devastated”. In Puerto Rico, thousands were taking haven in shelters opened by city authorities in San Juan and across the island. Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of the capital, said such voluntary action was a sign of how on-edge islanders were about the storm, the eye of which was expected to come within 50 or 60 miles.
“I am shocked by the monster that covers us. The island is devastated,” he wrote. “It is apocalyptic, a lot of damage, many roofs destroyed.” “This is the first time since I became mayor almost five years ago that people have come to the shelters without anyone have to ask,” she said. “People are concerned, they are scared. Puerto Ricans cannot fathom what a category 5 hurricane is about – it’s something we’ve never heard of.”
Gerard Collomb, the French interior minister, observed that the four wrecked government buildings in St Martin were the sturdiest on the island, “which means that more rustic structures have probably been completely or partially destroyed.” The mayor was speaking to the Guardian from her home in San Juan without any electricity – large parts of the city and surrounding towns had been cut off from power in advance of Irma in order to try to protect the island’s grid.
In Puerto Rico, thousands were taking haven in shelters opened by city authorities in San Juan and across the island.
Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of the capital, said that such voluntary action was a sign of how on edge islanders were about the storm, the eye of which was expected to come within 50 or 60 miles.
“This is the first time since I became mayor almost five years ago that people have come to the shelters without anyone have to ask,” she said. “People are concerned, they are scared. Puerto Ricans cannot fathom what a category five hurricane is about – it’s something we’ve never heard of.”
The mayor was speaking to the Guardian from her home in San Juan without any electricity – large parts of the city and surrounding towns have been cut off from power in advance of Irma in order to try to protect the island’s grid.
“Power infrastructure is very, very fragile and we are expecting to be without power for the next four to six months,” she said.“Power infrastructure is very, very fragile and we are expecting to be without power for the next four to six months,” she said.
In Bayamón, a municipality outside San Juan, Juan Collazo, a student at the University of Puerto Rico, said supermarkets and building merchants were all closed. Water was in short supply days ago, and most houses are still without storm protection because supplies of wood, rope and other materials for boarding up windows were impossible to acquire. The hurricane is the strongest Atlantic storm ever outside the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico and the most powerful since Hurricane Wilma, which tore into south Florida in 2005. Irma has also recorded winds at its eyewall at 180mph or greater for more than 27 successive hours – another record.
In the US, Donald Trump approved a request from the Florida governor Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency. Next in its path on Thursday are the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and the southern Bahamas. In its 5pm advisory Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami warned that Irma was then expected to take a hard turn to the north, lining up an increasingly likely strike on southern Florida, home to 7 million people, by Sunday afternoon.
“Watching hurricane closely,” the US president said in a tweet that also referred to Hurricane Harvey’s devastating strike in Texas last month. “My team, which has done, and is doing, such a good job in Texas, is already in Florida. No rest for the weary!” “Irma is a very powerful, very dangerous storm,” said Michael Brennan, a senior hurricane specialist at the NHC. “It’s a scary sight to see this kind of system affecting people.
A mandatory evacuation of the Florida Keys, the 100-mile chain of low-lying islands south of the mainland, was under way yesterday as Floridians raced to complete preparations ahead of the expected arrival of tropical storm force winds on Thursday. “It’s a very dangerous situation for the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and much of the Bahamas, and everyone on the Florida peninsula and in the Florida Keys will want to keep an eye on this.”
At a lunchtime briefing, Scott said he had ordered 7,000 members of Florida’s national guard to report for duty, and had lifted tolls on state highways to ease evacuations. Donald Trump approved a request from the Florida governor Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency, adding to declarations for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
“Get prepared, know your evacuation route,” Scott said. “This storm has the potential to devastate our state and we need to take it very seriously.” In a tweet, Trump said he had spoken to Scott and the governors of the US territories. “We are w/ you all,” the president wrote, following earlier tweets in which he promised the support of the federal government in recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, the NHC continued to warn of the dangers from the “significant” storm surge on coastlines along Irma’s expected path. In Puerto Rico, a team of scientists from the US Geological Survey installed nine storm-tide sensors to measure the height and intensity of the hurricane’s surge. By late afternoon on Wednesday, more than 25,000 people had responded to a mandatory evacuation of the Florida Keys, the 100-mile chain of low-lying islands that lies south of the mainland. Authorities also ordered the evacuation of coastal areas from Miami to north of Fort Lauderdale, fearing the effects of a considerable storm surge. Traffic quickly filled I-95 and I-75, the two major highways north.
“The researchers will assess beach erosion, overwash or inundation at local level and along the entire coastal zone in the hurricane’s path,” the agency said in a press release. At an earlier briefing, Scott said he had ordered 7,000 members of the state national guard to report for duty and had lifted tolls on state highways to ease evacuations.
“Get prepared, know your evacuation route,” he said. “This storm has the potential to devastate our state and we need to take it very seriously.”
The NHC continued to warn of the dangers from the storm surge on coastlines along Irma’s expected path. In Puerto Rico, a team of scientists from the US Geological Survey installed nine storm-tide sensors to measure the height and intensity of the hurricane’s surge.
“The researchers will assess beach erosion, overwash or inundation at local level and along the entire coastal zone in the hurricane’s path,” the agency said in a statement.