Hurricane Irma: What we know

Hurricane Irma has weakened but continued a furious climb up the Florida coast, toppling cranes, swallowing streets and leaving millions without power, after a multi-billion-dollar rampage through the Caribbean. At least 30 people have been killed since last week. The storm was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane yesterday, after striking the Florida Keys island chain as a more powerful Category 4 on Sunday. But warnings of hazardous storm surges remained in effect through vast swaths of the Florida peninsula. Maximum sustained winds had decreased to 75 miles per hour as of 5:00 am local time. While southwest Florida bore the deadly brunt of Irma, the eastern coastlines of Miami and the barrier island of Miami Beach were heavily inundated by storm surges.

Toll from Irma

The death toll is at least 30: 14 in the French island of St Barts and the neighboring Dutch-French territory of St Martin; six in the British Caribbean islands; at least four in the US Virgin Islands; at least two in Puerto Rico; and one in Barbuda. Three other deaths occurred in Florida due to car accidents sparked by strong winds and torrential rain. More than four million customers were without power throughout Florida, according to the state’s Division of Emergency Management. More than six million people had been ordered to flee their homes in one of the biggest evacuations in US history. The combined economic cost of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma could reach $290 billion, equivalent to 1.5 percent of the US gross domestic product, US forecaster AccuWeather said in a report.

Barbuda

Irma first made landfall on the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda on Wednesday as a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of up to 295 kph. The island suffered “absolute devastation,” with up to 30 percent of properties demolished, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said. One person is known to have died on the island of 1,600 residents, apparently a child whose family was trying to get to safer ground.

St Martin, St Barts, Anguilla

The holiday islands of St Martin and St Barts, also hit on Wednesday, suffered the highest toll among Caribbean victims of Irma. St Martin is divided between France and the Netherlands. France said 10 people had died on its side of the island, while the Netherlands said the storm killed four on the Dutch side, called Sint Maarten, where 70 percent of the infrastructure has been destroyed. France’s state-owned reinsurer CCR estimates damage on the two islands at 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion). France and the Netherlands are rushing in logistical support, as well as hundreds of extra police to clamp down on looting. French aid includes helicopters, engineering equipment, medical supplies and a million litres of water, as the three water-treatment plants will be knocked out for months. French President Emmanuel Macron will arrive in St Martin today.

Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico

Five people were killed in the British Virgin Islands, according to the local government. Just east of Puerto Rico, it is home to roughly 28,000 people and includes British billionaire Richard Branson’s Necker Island. At least four people were killed in the US Virgin Islands, officials said. At least two people were killed in the US territory of 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.

Dominican Republic, Haiti

Some 20,000 people were evacuated and more than 2,000 homes affected by floods in the Dominican Republic, the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola, which is also shared with Haiti. Irma brought flooding and caused injuries in Haiti, but passed further north than had been forecast, sparing the impoverished island the worst.

Cuba

Terrified Cubans who rode out Irma in coastal towns-after it made landfall Friday on the Camaguey archipelago as a maximum-strength Category 5 storm-reported “deafening” winds, uprooted trees and power lines, and rooftops blown off. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Cuba but it caused significant damage, and enormous waves lashed the Malecon, Havana’s emblematic seafront, with seawaters penetrating deep into the capital. Residents in the old colonial city were waist-deep in floodwaters after Irma cut power and forced the evacuation of more than a million people.

Irma: Where next?

Forecasters expect Irma will become a tropical storm later, but warnings of hazardous storm surges persisted in several areas even after the worst of its ferocity had passed. The massive storm’s center was forecast to move near the northwestern coast of Florida before crossing into the state of Georgia later into Monday. The National Hurricane Center cautioned that tornadoes remained possible in northeast Florida as well as southeast parts of Georgia and South Carolina into the evening.

A state of emergency has been declared in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, as well as in Florida. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would go to Florida “very soon” to assess relief efforts. — AFP