The strongest ever in the Atlantic History, Hurricane Irma has caused massive devastation across the Caribbean after it made landfall in Barbuda around 2 am (local time) on Wednesday.
So much so that the tiny island of Barbuda is almost completely damaged. In fact, reports state that Barbuda is now barely habitable as almost every building in the island has been destroyed. Not only this, massive destruction has also been reported in the French Territory of St. Martin.
Due to this, at least four have been killed so far and the death toll is likely to rise even further. Hurricane Irma is now a Category 5 hurricane which is the highest possible strength of a hurricane. As per the US National Hurricane Center, Irma, at present is passing north of Puerto Rico.
At least three million residents have been without power due to heavy rains and torrential winds and power outage may even last for several days. Along with this, at least 50,000 residents are facing water problems in the region.
Irma directly hit Barbuda which is home to 2,000 residents. Meanwhile, Antigua suffered very less damage. On the other hand, St. Martin and St. Barts have suffered immense damage as well with roofs being ripped off along with power outage in several regions.
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Not only this, fire stations were filled with 3 feet water which is why it became difficult for them to rescue residents. There are around 75,000 residents in St. Martin with 9200 in St. Barts. The four most solid buildings in St. Martin have reported to be destroyed.
As per reports, the damage in these regions is horrendous and they have not even been able to get a complete picture of the devastation as the communication lines are also destroyed.
As per reports, since Hurricane San Felipe in the year 1928, Puerto Rico has not seen such a hurricane of Irma’s strength. As per Puerto Rico's public power company, some areas could witness power outage for about four to six months because of the infrastructure damage.
Hurricane Irma is expected to remain around Category 4 or even 5 for at least another day or two. The storm is expected to roar past the regions of Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, the Turks & Caicos along with some parts of Bahamas. These regions could suffer some damage as well.
President Donald Trump had declared an emergency in Florida. At least six southern islands of the Bahamas have also been evacuated. Preparations have also been made to evacuate the Miami beach.
As per weather experts, Hurricane Irma could damage several parts of Florida along with areas of Miami, Jacksonville furthermore moving towards Georgia, Savannah, along with the North and South Carolinas in the coming days.
Image Credit: NOAA