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Irma barreled toward vulnerable Haiti yesterday after devastating a string of Caribbean islands and killing at least 13 people as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century took aim at Florida. With winds of around 290 km per hour, the storm has smashed through several small islands in the northeast Caribbean in recent days, including Barbuda, Saint Martin, and the British and US Virgin Islands, ripping down trees and flattening homes and hospitals.
Hurricane Irma is continuing to tear a deadly path through the Caribbean, causing widespread destruction and reducing buildings to rubble, on a track that could lead to a catastrophic strike on Florida, reports Telegraph.
Most powerful Atlantic hurricane leaves at least 13 dead
Hurricanes Jose and Katia are also forecast to cause destruction in the region
Donald Trump has said the winds of Irma are “the strongest I’ve ever seen”
Bahamas next in the path of hurricane as residents of Florida and Georgia are told to evacuate
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) winds dipped slightly yesterday to 175 mph as the storm lashed the northern coast of the Dominican Republic but it remained an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm. Irma is expected to hit Florida as a very powerful Category 4 on Sunday, with storm surges and flooding beginning within the next 48 hours.
As a Category 5 with sustained winds of 175 miles per hour, Irma now ranks among the most powerful hurricanes (as measured by wind speed) ever recorded. Earlier in the week, Irma sustained 185 mph winds for more than 24 hours, a record length of time for a hurricane in the Atlantic. And Irma has been a Category 5 storm for more than two days — which is also nearly a record.
US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House yesterday after declaring a major disaster in the US Virgin Islands the amount of wind that is coming in, we don’t think we have seen anything quite like this.