17 killed as Irma ravages Caribbean

Hurricane Irma ripped through the Caribbean on Thursday, leaving a trail of devastation and killing 17 as it barrelled towards the US, where up to a million people have been told to flee.

So far, 1.2 million people have been affected by Irma, the Red Cross said. But that number looks set to rise, the agency said.

With the storm expected to reach the US by the weekend, coastal areas of Florida and Georgia were carrying out their biggest evacuation since 2005.

“The entire southeastern United States better wake up and pay attention,” warned US federal emergency chief Brock Long. “It will be truly devastating.”

Roaring across the Caribbean, the rare Category Five hurricane laid waste to a series of tiny islands like St Martin, where 60% of homes were wrecked, before slamming into the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

On many islands, violent winds have ripped roofs and facades off buildings, hurling lumps of concrete, cars and even shipping containers aside.

At least two people were killed in Puerto Rico, and more than half of its three million residents were without power after rivers broke their banks in the centre and north of the island.

Another four people were killed on the US Virgin Islands.

One person died in Barbuda, which also suffered “absolute devastation,” with 300 people evacuated to Antigua and up to 30% properties demolished.

France said at least nine people had been killed across its Caribbean territories and seven more were missing. There were 112 people injured, said interior minister Gerard Collomb. AFP