EXODUS!
Millions flee their homes as Florida faces a direct hit Irma leaves 23 dead as a second hurricane roars in Get out of its way, this is epic tweets Trump
MILLIONS of Americans were fleeing Florida last night as the state was braced for a direct hit from Hurricane Irma.
The sunshine state’s famous beaches were empty and stores stripped bare as the storm that has killed at least 23 people in the Caribbean barrelled towards mainland America.
Highways were clogged with drivers heading north and petrol stations ran dry as one of the largest evacuations in US history got under way.
At airports travellers paid thousands for last-minute tickets to escape Irma’s 150mph winds and 10ft storm surge that could swamp the city of Miami.
The US Weather Service warned that south Florida ‘may be uninhabitable for weeks or months’.
Florida governor Rick Scott warned all 20million residents to prepare to evacuate, saying: ‘If you have been ordered to evacuate please go.
‘Today is the day to do the right thing for your family.’
Two nuclear power plants were shut down and President Donald Trump described the 650-mile wide storm as ‘epic’ . His Mar-a-Lago estate is on the water’s edge in Palm Beach and could take a battering. He tweeted: ‘Hurri- cane Irma is of epic proportion, perhaps bigger than we have ever seen. Be safe and get out of its way, if possible. Federal G is ready!’
He added that Irma could be ‘even tougher’ than Hurricane Harvey which ravaged Texas last week. Irma, which has devastated 40 Caribbean islands, is due to hit the Florida Keys tonight and the mainland tomorrow then reach Orlando, home to Universal Studios and Disney World by Monday.
Its current path means Miami will be on the more powerful side of the storm. Predictions say Miami Beach, a city of 2.7million where luxury apartment blocks and celebrity homes line the waterfront, would be cut off.
Florida is home to 400,000 British expats and thousands of tourists from the UK are likely to be caught up in the storm too.
Meanwhile, Caribbean islands were left in a state of emergency while others saw outbreaks of looting.
At least four people have been killed on the British Virgin Islands by Hurricane Irma, officials confirmed last night.
Nine were killed on the French islands of Saint Martin and St Barts. Annick Girardin, minister for France’s overseas territories, yesterday described ‘ scenes of pillaging’ of food, water and people’s possessions.
Thousands of tourists still trapped on the islands were already facing a second hurricane, Jose, which strengthened to an ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 4 storm last night, with maximum sustained winds nearing 150mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
It threatened to strike as early as today. Authorities rushed to evacuate as many people as possible from Barbuda, which was virtually destroyed by Irma, ahead of the new storm. Damage to property on St Martin is extensive with rooftops shredded, boats ripped to pieces and electricity pylons overturned.
Most of the island’s 80,000 residents have lost their homes.
The Netherlands sent troops to contain ‘serious’ looting on St Martin amid reports of people with guns and machetes roaming the streets.
Martin Lucas, a British man who lives and works on St Martin, described it as ‘a very violent and dangerous place’. Mr Lucas, from St Columb, Cornwall, said: ‘I haven’t been able to eat properly, drink properly, wash for four days now.
‘The whole island has no power, water, toilet facilities. We’ve now got a breakdown in law and order. People with machetes breaking into shops and apartments taking what they need.’ Amid reports that British tourists were stuck in Cuba, Thomas Cook said in a statement that on Thursday, 1,930 customers were evacuated from the Cayo Coco region of the island.
The company said: ‘These customers are now in hotels in Varadero and no customers have been required to stay in the island’s hurricane shelters.’
Thomas Cook added that no flights from the UK to Orlando or Cayo Coco and Varadero would depart over the weekend. Passengers were urged to check the flight status before departing.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic said that its flights to Orlando and Miami had been ‘restricted’ over the weekend. And British Airways said that four flights to and from Florida had been cancelled while a number of others had been rescheduled.
‘Still in grave need’