Hurricane Irma: What we know

Hurricane Irma: What we know

Hurricane Irma has weakened but continued up the Florida coast on Monday, toppling cranes, swallowing streets and leaving millions without power.

Hurricane Irma in Miami, Florida
AFP

At least 40 people have been killed and the damage will cost billions of dollars to repair.


Irma was downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday after striking Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday, but warnings of hazardous surges remained.


Toll from Irma


The death toll is at least 40: 14 in the French island of St Barts and the neighbouring Dutch-French territory of St Martin; at least 10 in Cuba; 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. 


More than four million homes were without power throughout Florida and more than six million people had been ordered to flee their homes.


The combined economic cost of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma could reach $290 billion, US forecaster AccuWeather said.


Barbuda


Irma first made landfall on Barbuda on Wednesday as a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of up to 295 kilometres per hour (180 miles per hour). The island suffered "absolute devastation," with 30 percent of properties demolished.


A child died on the island of 1,600 residents.


St Martin, St Barts and Anguilla


St Martin -- divided between France and the Netherlands -- and St Barts were also hit on Wednesday.


France said 10 people died on its side, 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 amid reports of looting.


French aid includes helicopters, engineering equipment, medical supplies and a million litres (265,000 gallons) of water.


French President Emmanuel Macron will arrive in St Martin on Tuesday. Dutch King Willem-Alexander is to visit the Dutch side on Monday.


In the British archipelago of Anguilla, one man was crushed to death in a house.


Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico


Five people were killed in the British Virgin Islands.


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 were killed in the US Virgin Islands.


At least two were killed in the US territory of Puerto Rico, and more than half of its three million residents were without power.


- Dominican Republic, Haiti - 


Around 20,000 people were evacuated in the Dominican Republic, the eastern part of Hispaniola, which is shared with Haiti.


Irma caused injuries in Haiti, but passed further north than had been feared.


Cuba


Cubans reported "deafening" winds, uprooted trees and power lines, and rooftops blown off after Irma made landfall Friday as a maximum-strength Category 5 storm.


Enormous waves lashed the Malecon, Havana's emblematic seafront, and residents were waist-deep in floodwaters after Irma forced the evacuation of more than a million people.


Irma: Where next?


Warnings of hazardous storm surges persisted in several areas as Irma's center was forecast to move near the northwestern coast of Florida before crossing into Georgia later Monday.


The National Hurricane Center warned of possible tornadoes 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, Virginia and Florida. 


President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would go to Florida "very soon". 


Hurricanes Jose, Katia


Hurricane Jose, after strengthening to Category 4 status, passed 135 kilometres (80 miles) north of St Barts and 125 kilometres from Saint Martin late on Saturday, despite earlier fears the islands would suffer a second storm within days. 


The US National Hurricane Center on Monday reported Jose was "weakening" and was "expected to linger over the western Atlantic for several days".


With maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, it was located about 255 miles (410 km) northeast of Grand Turk Island.


A third hurricane, Katia, made landfall in eastern Mexico late Friday killing two people.


burs-je/pg

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