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Monster Hurricane Irma batters Caribbean islands

This satellite image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Irma at 1145 UTC on September 6, 2017 © NOAA/RAMMB/AFP

Marigot, France, Sep 5 – Monster Hurricane Irma slammed into the French Caribbean islands on Wednesday after making landfall in Barbuda, packing ferocious winds and causing major flooding in low-lying areas.

As the rare Category Five storm barreled its way across the Caribbean, it brought gusting winds of up to 185 miles per hour (294 kilometers per hour), weather experts said.

After making landfall just before 0600 GMT in Barbuda, part of the twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, the hurricane swept on to French-run Saint Barthelemy, also known as St Barts, and Saint Martin, an island divided between France and the Netherlands.

The French weather office said Irma was “a historic hurricane (with) an unprecedented intensity over the Atlantic,” with a French minister saying it had already “caused major damage” across its two island territories.

– ‘Very scary’ –

Coastal areas were being “battered extremely violently” by the sea, with the weather office logging winds of 244 kph (151 mph) before its monitoring equipment was destroyed by the hurricane.

With the islands on maximum alert ahead of the arrival of the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic, France had raised the alarm over the fate of some 7,000 people who refused to seek shelter.

France’s minister for overseas territories said the islanders had likely underestimated the power of the storm.

Dutch national broadcaster NOS also reported “enormous damage” on Saint Martin, with residents speaking of widespread destruction.

Hurricane Irma made landfall in Barbuda but is making its way north west towards the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico © AFP / Lionel CHAMOISEAU

“Everything around the house is gone. All the bushes have disappeared,” teacher Astrid Schrage told RTL television, who said she and her family had barricaded themselves in to wait out the storm.

“It was very quiet in the eye of the storm, but very scary.”

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Saba Island and St Eustatius, two other Dutch-run territories to the south, were also hit by the storm.

“Wind is howling like a freight train. Reports of roofs gone,” Saba island governor Jonathan Johnson wrote on Twitter, while Peter Jan de Vin, commander of the Dutch Sea Force in the Caribbean, said St Eustatius was now in the eye of the storm.

– ‘I’m just praying’ –

The massive hurricane, which is beating a path northwest, was also expected to hit the larger French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique which are also part of the Leeward Islands that run in an arc southeast of Puerto Rico.

On Tuesday, as the storm was still over the Atlantic, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it was the strongest hurricane ever recorded over that part of the ocean.

With forecasters warning of a potentially catastrophic storm, involving surges of up to 20 feet (six meters) above normal tide levels, people evacuated tourist areas, stocked up on provisions, and packed into shelters across an area stretching as far north as Florida.

A small boat is seen as the swell increases, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma © AFP / Lionel CHAMOISEAU

Irma, which is expected to stay in the region for days, follows hot on the heels of Hurricane Harvey which devastated swathes of Texas in late August.

Packed into shelters, many frightened residents were calling in to local radio stations to voice their concerns.

“I am just praying to God. Everything happens for a reason,” said a woman called Kazia living on Antigua, where people were hunkering down in the dark after officials turned off the island’s power supply as a safety precaution.

“I can hear very strong winds and things being thrown around, but I am scared to look outside,” said another Antiguan called Davina, who lives in an area called York.

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– Shelters packed –

Category Five is the highest on the scale for hurricanes in the Atlantic and Caribbean, and Irma is expected to reach the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by nightfall Wednesday.

Hurricanes of this category are rare. They can tear off roofing, shatter windows, uproot palm trees and turn them into deadly projectiles.

In Guadeloupe, schools and government offices in have been closed while hospitals stocked up on medicines, food and drinking water.

Across the island, shelters were packed with a mixture of local families and tourists.

Map showing the forecast track of Hurricane Irma across the Caribbean © AFP / Sophie RAMIS

“We came here to protect our little two-year-old boy,” said Ludovic, a tourist who only gave his first name.

“We hadn’t prepared for this disaster scenario. Our rental home is beautiful but it only has bay windows.”

Florida is expecting to face the brunt of the storm from Friday night.

As the hurricane approached, President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, authorizing federal funding to help local authorities respond.

“My team, which has done, and is doing, such a good job in Texas, is already in Florida. No rest for the weary!” he tweeted.

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– Threat to Puerto Rico, Florida –

Florida Governor Rick Scott said Irma, which comes barely a week after Harvey claimed at least 42 lives, posed “a severe threat to the entire state”.

Tourists in the popular Key West islands were packing their bags on a mandatory evacuation order and were to begin leaving at sunrise on Wednesday, with a similar order for residents due to follow.

“We’re emphatically telling people you must evacuate, you cannot afford to stay on an island with a Category 5 hurricane coming at you,” said Monroe County emergency operations center director Martin Senterfitt.

There were long queues as people rushed to get batteries, bottled water, groceries and fuel, while many cut trees around their homes and sought to tie down objects.

In a crowded supermarket in Miami Beach where people were scrambling to buy provisions, it was difficult to find basic supplies like water.

Whole shelves stood empty.

“People go crazy and buy up everything,” 81-year-old resident Gladys Bosque told AFP.

“There’s no water, no milk, there are very few cans — and no cat food.”

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In Puerto Rico, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and opened storm shelters sufficient to house up to 62,000 people.

A US aircraft carrier with a field hospital and dozens of aircraft able to conduct rescue or supply missions have been put on standby, US emergency authorities said.

In Rio Grande, 33-year-old Sheilyn Rodriguez was stocking up on batteries, canned food and ice in case of a power outage.

“I really am scared for my kid,” she told AFP, referring to her nine-year-old son.

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