Hurricane Irma leaves much of Caribbean battered, then heads for Cuba, Haiti, Florida

Irma rips through Caribbean Georgia orders evacuation of Savannah Trump very concerned

Marigot/Washington, Sept. 7: Hurricane Irma on Thursday slashed its way through the Caribbean towards the United States transforming tropical island paradises into scenes of death and ruin. Wielding monster winds and pounding rain, the rare Category 5 hurricane was on a potential collision course with southern Florida, where at-risk areas were being evacuated.

“It will be truly devastating,” warned the head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long. “The entire southeastern United States better wake up and pay attention.”

Irma churned westward through the Caribbean, packing winds of up to 295 kilometers per hour. French weather experts said Irma had raged at peak intensity for more than 33 hours making it the longest-lasting superstorm since satellite monitoring began in the 1970s. The international Red Cross said 1.2 million people had already been hit by Irma, a number that could rise to 26 million.

On many islands, roofs were ripped off buildings as if by a giant’s hand, shipping containers were tossed aside like matchsticks and debris flung far and wide, and airports, sea ports and mobile phone networks were knocked out. St Martin, a pristine island resort divided between France and the Netherlands, suffered the full fury of the storm.

France, in a toll revised downwards, said four had died and 50 were injured, two of them seriously. Sixty per cent of homes were so damaged that they were uninhabitable. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe described the disaster as “unimaginable and unprecedented”. The Netherlands said it was racing to provide food and water for 40,000 people over the next five days while France said more than 100,000 packages of combat rations were en route. A 200-member French team flew in to Guadeloupe to coordinate rescue efforts.

Britain said it was sending two warships to help victims in the Caribbean, and earmarking £12 million in aid.

The first vessel was expected to reach affected territories on Thursday.

Irma also laid waste to Barbuda, part of the twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which suffered “absolute devastation” with up to 30 per cent of properties demolished, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.

The governor of the southern US state of Georgia ordered the mandatory evacuation of the city of Savannah and other coastal areas ahead of Hurricane Irma. “I encourage all Georgians in our coastal areas that could be impacted by this storm to evacuate the area as soon as possible,” governor Nathan Deal said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump said, “We are very concerned; we are working very hard.”

It is just total devastation. Barbuda now is literally rubble. It is absolutely heart wrenching — Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda PM Alas, the island (St. Martin) is not reachable at this point because of the huge damage to the airport and the harbour. The priority now is to bring emergency aid to the people — Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister