Hurricane leaves trailofdestruction

HURRICANE Irma is continuing to tear a deadly path through the Caribbean as the scale of devastation in its wake begins to emerge.

The historic storm destroyed nearly all buildings on the island of Barbuda yesterday, killing a two-year-old child, before wreaking havoc on the French territories of St Martin and St Barts, leaving at least seven dead.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that Barbuda had been left “barely habitable”.

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the UK is “taking swift action to respond” to the disaster after speaking to the chief minister of Anguilla, a British overseas territory that was among the first islands to be hit.

Britons in the region have been urged to follow evacuation orders, while states of emergency have been declared in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Florida — amid fears Miami could be struck directly by the hurricane.

A British naval ship with 40 Royal Marines on board, as well as army engineers and equipment, has been deployed to help deal with the aftermath as authorities struggle to bring aid to smaller islands.

A massive operation is underway to evacuate people away from coastal areas on Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where aid workers are moving residents into temporary shelters.

Irma’s eye was today just north of the coast of Puerto Rico, lashing the island with heavy rain and high winds and leaving more than 900,000 people without power. There were fears that the eye could come within 35 miles of the capital San Juan, bringing gusts of up to 100mph.

Irma is moving at about 16mph on a course forecast to take it toward the Bahamas and the British overseas territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Some US government personnel have been ordered to leave the Bahamas before the hurricane’s arrival, expected tonight local time.

On the US mainland, authorities fear the hurricane may slam into the Florida peninsula over the weekend, just days after storm Harvey devastated Texas.

Officials are making preparations to potentially shut down two nuclear power stations in the Sunshine State, while evacuation orders have been given in the Florida Keys.

With sustained winds of 185mph, the category five hurricane is the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record.

Hurricane Irma