Vicious Irma set to strike

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has declared emergencies in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands as Hurricane Irma prepares for landfall.

The declarations authorise the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to co-ordinate disaster relief efforts in those places.

The dangerous category 5 storm is wielding the most powerful winds ever recorded for a storm in the Atlantic Ocean. It is on a path that could take it toward Florida over the weekend.

Irma’s size and strength put the entire state on notice.

Residents and visitors prepared to leave in anticipation of catastrophic winds and floods.

Puerto Rico’s governor is also warning that the effects of Hurricane Irma could be catastrophic and calling the storm more dangerous than Hurricane Harvey.

Its maximum wind speeds were 297km/h.

The National Hurricane Centre has urged people to prepare for potentially devastating winds, major storm surges and flash floods.

Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, said that the “dangerousness of this system” has never been seen in Puerto Rico.

“It is much more dangerous than Harvey. The results could be catastrophic and devastating,” he said.

People in the Florida Keys are putting up hurricane shutters and wooden boards on homes and businesses as powerful Irma approaches the Caribbean.

Irma would be the second powerful hurricane to slam the US and its territories in as many weeks.

Residents of Texas and Louisiana are still reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey, which struck as a Category 4 hurricane on August 25 and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and left major flooding.