Hurricane Irma lashed Cuba as it roared toward Florida on Friday after hitting the eastern Caribbean with its devastatingly high winds, killing 21 people and leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake. Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, was expected to hit Florida on Sunday morning, bringing massive damage from wind and flooding to the fourth-largest state by population. A historic evacuation, including from areas around Miami, has been made more difficult by clogged highways, gasoline shortages and the challenge of moving older people in the top retirement destination.

The storm could regain strength and hit the Florida Keys as a Category 5 hurricane, the most powerful designation by the National Hurricane Center, with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour (258 km per hour). The United States has experienced only three Category 5 storms since 1851, and Irma is far larger than the last one to hit the United States in 1992, Hurricane Andrew, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“We are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now. This is a catastrophic storm like our state has never seen,” Governor Rick Scott told reporters, adding that the storm’s effects would be felt from coast to coast in the state. A total of 5.6 million people, or 25 percent of the state’s population, was ordered to evacuate Florida, the Associated Press reported, citing Andrew Sussman, the state’s hurricane program manager.

US President Donald Trump said in a videotaped statement that Irma was “a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential” and called on people to heed recommendations from government officials and law enforcement. In Palm Beach, Trump’s waterfront Mar-a-Lago estate was ordered evacuated.

Irma, currently a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph (250 kph), was about 315 miles (510 km) southeast of Miami, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory. After passing the Bahamas earlier in the day, Irma periodically drenched Cuba with rain and wind from the outer edge of the storm. Irma was forecast to bring dangerous storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) to the southeastern and central Bahamas and up to 10 feet (3 meters) on parts of Cuba’s northern coast.

Cuba’s Communist government has traditionally made rigorous preparations when the island is threatened by storms, and the country was at a near standstill as Irma began to drive up the northern coast from east to west. Irma was forecast to move closer to land as it passed the center of Cuba later in the day and on Saturday, when it could seriously damage resorts on vulnerable keys. Tourists, and even the dolphins that entertain them, were evacuated. The storm was then predicted to veer north, sparing western Cuba and Havana.

In the Cuban fishing town of Caibarien, residents secured their roofs and moved belongings from low-lying coastal areas to houses higher up inland as the skies clouded over. Most said they were worried but well prepared. Residents in the central province of Camaguey hunkered down on Friday night for the arrival of the storm. “There are really strong gusts of wind. It is pouring off and on, and the lights are out,” Anaida Gonzalez, a retired nurse, said by telephone.

Irma was set to hit the United States two weeks after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas, killing about 60 people and causing property damage estimated at up to $180 billion in Texas and Louisiana. Officials were preparing a massive response, the head of FEMA said. About 9 million people in Florida may lose power, some for weeks, said Florida Power & Light Co, the biggest power company in Florida serving almost half of the state’s 20.6 million residents.

Amid the exodus, nearly one-third of all gas stations in Florida’s metropolitan areas were out of gasoline, with scattered outages in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to Gasbuddy.com, a retail fuel price tracking service. In Miami-Dade County alone, Mayor Carlos Gimenez said authorities had asked about 660,000 residents to evacuate, adding that this was the largest evacuation he could remember in the county.

Supermarkets in Miami were full of shoppers picking up last-minute supplies and food, and long lines of cars wrapped around the few gas stations still open. People seeking shelter recalled Hurricane Andrew in 1992 as they braced for Irma. A shelter in southwest Miami filled to capacity just hours after it opened its doors. People packed into a gymnasium were thinking about the past while worrying about the future.

“I’m scared because it is bigger than Andrew,” said Ann Samuels, 49, as she arrived to the Robert Morgan Education Center. On the short trip from her home she said her mind went back to 1992 when Hurricane Andrew forced her and her two young children and eight others into a closet. “They say to not stress and not worry, but how can you not?” she added.

Steve Ortega, 29, decided to go home after peeking into the packed shelter. He was 5 years old when Andrew damaged his home. “I will never forget the noise. That … was the scariest thing I ever heard in my life,” adding he was worried but optimistic his home would remain standing through Irma. Mandatory evacuations on Georgia’s Atlantic coast and some of South Carolina’s barrier islands were due to begin on Saturday. Virginia was under a state of emergency.

The governors of North and South Carolina warned residents to remain on guard even as the storm took a more westward track, saying their states still could experience severe weather, including heavy rain and flash flooding, early next week. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended slightly lower as investors braced for potential damage from Irma as it moved toward Florida. Many economists are predicting that third-quarter gross domestic product will take a hit due to the hurricanes.

As it roared in from the east, Irma ravaged small islands in the northeastern Caribbean, including Barbuda, St. Martin and the British and US Virgin Islands, flattening homes and hospitals and ripping down trees. Even as they came to grips with the massive destruction, residents of the islands hit hardest by Irma faced the threat of another major storm, Hurricane Jose. Jose, expected to reach the northeastern Caribbean on Saturday, was an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph), the NHC said on Friday.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, killed eight people and plunged Puerto Rico into darkness on Thursday as it swept through Caribbean islands while aiming for Florida.

The dead were reported on four islands. Weather forecasters have described Irma as a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm, the highest U.S. classification for hurricanes.

At least half of Puerto Rico's homes and businesses were without power early on Thursday, according to Twitter posts and a message posted by an island utility executive.

The dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda was especially hard hit. The northernmost island, Barbuda, home to roughly 1,800 people, was "totally demolished," with 90 percent of all dwellings there leveled, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said, according to island television broadcasts.

Browne said one person was killed on Barbuda. A second storm-related fatality, that of a surfer, was reported on Barbados. The French government said at least six people were killed in Caribbean island territories of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy. Power was knocked out on both.

"This is not, by far, a definitive number .... We have not explored all the parts of the island," Guadeloupe prefect Eric Maire told reporters, adding the death toll was likely to rise in the next few hours.

Early television footage of Saint Martin showed a devastated marina with boats tossed into piles, submerged streets and flooded homes.

"It is an enormous disaster, 95 percent of the island is destroyed, I am in shock," Daniel Gibbs, chairman of a local council, told Radio Caribbean International.

Irma, with top sustained winds of 180 miles per hour (290 km per hour), was on track to reach Florida on Saturday or Sunday, becoming the second major hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in as many weeks.

On its current path the core was expected to scrape the northern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday. It was also on a track that would put it near the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas by Thursday evening.

The NHC said it was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and one of the five most forceful storms to hit the Atlantic basin in 82 years.

While Irma's intensity could fluctuate and its precise course remained uncertain, the storm was expected to remain at least a Category 4 before arriving in Florida. </s> Damage along the Camaguey Archipelago, which was pummelled by wind speeds of more than 160 mph (260km/h), is expected to mirror the carnage wrought across other Caribbean islands as the Category 5 storm heads for a direct hit on Ciego de Avila province. Irma’s winds are so devastating they destroyed Cuban meteorological equipment used to record wind speeds. Power lines and palm trees have been uprooted by the hurricane as sheets of rain lash the area rand huge waves crash over sea walls. But meteorologists have warned scenes of far greater devastation are sure to emerge as Irma works her way along the northern coast westward through Sancti Spiritus and Villa Clara provinces where it is forecast to turn north toward Florida.

In Gibara, province of Holguin, first reports of damage are coming in with local hospitals and schools suffering structural damage along with other properties and businesses. The area around the pier has also been badly damaged by the heavy seas where officials reported waves were reaching a terrifying 26ft (8m). Irma, one of the fiercest Atlantic storms in a century, is expected to hit Florida on Sunday morning, bringing massive damage from wind and flooding to the fourth-largest state by population. Irma was about 275 miles (440 km) south-southeast of Miami, the US National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.

With the storm barreling toward the United States, officials ordered an historic evacuation in Florida that has been made more difficult by clogged highways, gasoline shortages and the challenge of moving older people. The United States has been hit by only three Category 5 storms since 1851, and Irma is far larger than the last one in 1992, Hurricane Andrew, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Governor Rick Scott said: “We are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now. This is a catastrophic storm like our state has never seen.”

A total of 5.6 million people, or 25 percent of the state's population, were ordered to evacuate Florida, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management. US President Donald Trump said in a videotaped statement that Irma was "a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential" and called on people to heed recommendations from government officials and law enforcement. Irma will hit the US two weeks after Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm, struck Texas, killing about 60 people and causing property damage estimated at up to £150 billion in Texas and Louisiana.

Officials were preparing a massive response, the head of FEMA said. As it roared in from the east, Irma ravaged small islands in the northeastern Caribbean, including Barbuda, St Martin and the British and US Virgin Islands, flattening homes and hospitals and ripping down trees. But even as they came to grips with the massive destruction, residents of the islands faced the threat of another major storm, Hurricane Jose. The NHC Jose, expected to reach the northeastern Caribbean later today, is an extremely dangerous storm nearing Category 5 status, with winds of up to 150 mph (240km/h). </s> SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, killed eight people and plunged Puerto Rico into darkness on Thursday as it swept through Caribbean islands while aiming for Florida.

The dead were reported on four islands. Weather forecasters have described Irma as a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm, the highest U.S. classification for hurricanes.

At least half of Puerto Rico´s homes and businesses were without power early on Thursday, according to Twitter posts and a message posted by an island utility executive.

The dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda was especially hard hit.

The northernmost island, Barbuda, home to roughly 1,800 people, was "totally demolished," with 90 percent of all dwellings there leveled, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said, according to island television broadcasts.

Browne said one person was killed on Barbuda. A second storm-related fatality, that of a surfer, was reported on Barbados.

The French government said at least six people were killed in Caribbean island territories of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy.

Power was knocked out on both.

"This is not, by far, a definitive number .... We have not explored all the parts of the island," Guadeloupe prefect Eric Maire told reporters, adding the death toll was likely to rise in the next few hours.

Early television footage of Saint Martin showed a devastated marina with boats tossed into piles, submerged streets and flooded homes.

"It is an enormous disaster, 95 percent of the island is destroyed, I am in shock," Daniel Gibbs, chairman of a local council, told Radio Caribbean International.

Irma, with top sustained winds of 180 miles per hour (290 km per hour), was on track to reach Florida on Saturday or Sunday, becoming the second major hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in as many weeks.

On its current path the core was expected to scrape the northern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday. It was also on a track that would put it near the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas by Thursday evening.

The NHC said it was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and one of the five most forceful storms to

hit the Atlantic basin in 82 years.

While Irma´s intensity could fluctuate and its precise course remained uncertain, the storm was expected to remain at least a Category 4 before arriving in Florida. </s> MIAMI: After laying waste to several Caribbean islands, Hurricane Irma was barreling Saturday (Sep 9) towards Florida, where some 5.6 million people faced orders to evacuate as the monster storm made landfall in Cuba.

Irma - which has killed at least 19 people and devastated thousands of homes in the Caribbean - made landfall late Friday on the Camaguey Archipelago of Cuba as a maximum-strength Category 5 storm.

The hurricane weakened slightly to a Category 4 hours later, swirling some 395km away from Miami and packing still powerful maximum sustained winds of 249kmh, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

In Cuba officials reported "significant damage" in parts of the island's center without providing further details, but said there were not yet casualties.

More than a million people on the Caribbean's largest island have evacuated as a precaution, authorities said.

Irma is expected to strike the Florida Keys late Saturday and Sunday before moving inland, and many residents have joined a mass exodus amid increasingly dire alerts to leave.

"It's not too late to get off the Keys!!!" the agency said. "You still have time, this morning, to get out! Please, the Keys are not safe."

According to Florida's Division of Emergency Management some 5.6 million residents have been ordered to evacuate - nearly a quarter of the state population.

Warning that Irma would be worse than Hurricane Andrew - which killed 65 people in 1992 - Florida's governor said all 20.6 million Floridians should prepare to flee.

"If you're in an evacuation zone, you should be very cautious, you should get out now," Governor Rick Scott told CNN. "This is a powerful storm bigger than our state."

Bumper-to-bumper traffic was snaking north out of the peninsula, with mattresses, gas cans and kayaks strapped to car roofs.

North of the Keys, in Miami Beach, 82-year-old Cuban-American Orlando Reyes had suddenly to flee his assisted living facility.

"It is frightening," he told AFP at a shelter in Miami. "We had to leave without a cent, without taking a bath, or bringing anything."

The storm ravaged a series of tiny islands before slamming into the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

French state-owned reinsurer CCR estimated Irma had caused 1.2 billion euros (US$1.4 billion) worth of damage to homes, vehicles and businesses in the territories of Saint Martin and Saint Barts.

"Houses are smashed, the airport is out of action," Saint Barts resident Olivier Toussaint told AFP.

"Upside-down cars are in the cemeteries. Boats are sunk in the marina, shops are destroyed."

Meteorologists meanwhile were closely monitoring two other Atlantic storms.

Jose, another powerful Category 4 storm, was heading towards the same string of Caribbean islands Irma has pummeled in recent days.

Katia made landfall in eastern Mexico late Friday - just as the country was grappling with its worst earthquake in a century - as a Category 1 hurricane.

It was later downgraded to a tropical storm but was still bringing rains that could bring "life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."

Hurricane Jose was wreaking havoc with emergency operations in the Caribbean, as the deteriorating weather prevented boats from leaving with relief supplies and grounded aircraft.

Cuba had already evacuated 10,000 foreign tourists from beach resorts ahead of Irma's arrival.

The hurricane "seriously affects" the central provinces of Camaguey and Ciego de Avila, Cuban meteorologist Elier Pila said on state television.

But because of Irma's massive size, its effects were felt from central-west regions to the island's east, he said. Communications are down in many municipalities there.

The neighboring Bahamas escaped the hurricane's wrath mostly unscathed, with no reports of casualties or major damage.

In Florida, where forecasters warned of storm surges of up to 12 feet (nearly four meters), normally bustling Miami Beach was deserted.

"Nobody can be prepared for a storm surge. They can destroy everything," said David Wallack, a 67-year-old salsa club owner attempting to secure his property on the city's Ocean Drive.

"We just can pray for the best. You put what you can in a suitcase and hope."

The US military was mobilizing thousands of troops and deploying several large ships to aid with evacuations and humanitarian relief, as the Air Force removed scores of planes from the southern United States.

In the Caribbean, violent winds ripped roofs and facades off buildings, hurling lumps of concrete, cars and even shipping containers aside.

At least two people were killed in Puerto Rico, and more than half of its three million residents were without power after rivers broke their banks in the center and north of the island.

Another four people were killed on the US Virgin Islands, with a number of badly injured people airlifted to Puerto Rico.

One person died in tiny Barbuda, where 30 per cent of properties were demolished and the entire island has been evacuated.

France said at least 10 had been killed across its Caribbean territories with seven more missing. There were 112 people injured, two seriously.

On the Dutch side of Saint Martin island, two people died.

In northwest Haiti, a motorcyclist was missing after trying to cross a flooded river and a number of roads were washed out.

European nations quickly mobilized to help their citizens in the Caribbean, with France and the Netherlands ordering hundreds of police to Saint Martin - where most of the 80,000 inhabitants have lost their homes - to tackle an outbreak of looting amid major shortages of food, water and petrol. </s> Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm, is now among the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. Some reports had said that the hurricane is so strong that it is showing up on devices used to measure earthquakes.

The Caribbean island Barbuda, which has a population of about 2,000, is expected to be the first to be hit by Irma. The US National Hurricane Center said Irma is “potentially catastrophic” and has urged that preparations to protect life and property should be sped up. Irma is expected to “bring life-threatening wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards” to portions of the northern Leeward Islands, including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

The storm is then forecast to travel through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos by Friday. The Bahamas, Cuba and Florida are also likely to be affected. However, it is too soon to specify timing and magnitude of these impacts, the agency said.

At 11 pm Atlantic Standard Time on Tuesday, Irma was about 80 km from the Leeward Islands. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 295 kmph and was heading west northwest at 20 kmph.

Other storms in the region that were this strong, reaching speeds of 295 kmph or more, include Allen in 1980, Wilma in 2005, Gilbert in 1988 and a Florida Key storm in 1935.

Florida and Puerto Rico had declared an emergency on Monday, when Irma was still a category 4 storm. </s> Hurricane Irma, the strongest recorded storm to hit the Atlantic, is leaving a trail of destruction in the Caribbean and there is an increasing chance that it might turn to Florida next.

As stated in the latest Advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 11 p.m. AST, chances of a direct hurricane impact in Florida over the weekend and early next week are increasing. Hurricane watches will most likely be in effect in the Florida Keys and the Florida Peninsula on Thursday.

The advisory also states that Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, should bring life-threatening winds, storm surge, and heavy rainfall to Puerto Rico tonight. Hispaniola should experience the same by Thursday, while the Turks and Caicos and the southeastern and central Bahamas should see Irma by Thursday and Friday.

Irma hit the Caribbean with dangerous winds of 185 mph, the island nations of Antigua and Barbuda included. The small northernmost island of Barbuda, which only has a population of 1,800, was "totally demolished," as said by Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

The estimated destruction is at least 90 percent. The estimated damages caused by Irma on Barbuda amount to $150 million. One of the higher-end property losses is said to be a hotel owned by Hollywood star Robert De Niro.

An aerial footage of the island revealed a flooded landscape with scattered debris and overturned vehicles everywhere.

The north of Puerto Rico was also hit by the hurricane late on Wednesday. As expected, heavy rain and strong winds tormented locals. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello told CNN that they "expect a lot of damage" but not as much as the destruction in Barbuda.

At least four people have been reported to have died on four different islands hit by Irma.

Stay tuned for the latest updates on Hurricane Irma. </s> Fearsome Hurricane Irma left at least 10 dead and thousands homeless amid a swathe of smashed buildings and uprooted trees, cutting a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean on Thursday on a track that could lead to a catastrophic strike on Florida.

The most potent Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever, Irma weakened only slightly Thursday morning and remained a powerful Category 5 storm with winds of 180 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The storm was increasingly likely to rip into heavily populated South Florida early Sunday, prompting the governor to declare an emergency and officials to impose mandatory evacuation orders for parts of the Miami metro area and the Florida Keys. Forecasters said it could punish the entire Atlantic coast of Florida and rage on into Georgia and South Carolina.

"This could easily be the most costly storm in U.S. history, which is saying a lot considering what just happened two weeks ago," said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami, alluding to the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told France Info radio that eight had died and 23 injured in the country's Caribbean island territories, and he said the toll on Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy could be higher because rescue teams have yet to finish their inspection of the islands.

"The reconnaissance will really start at daybreak," Collomb said.

At a news conference, Collomb also said 100,000 food rations have been sent to the islands, the equivalent of four days of supplies.

"It's a tragedy, we'll need to rebuild both islands," he said. "Most of the schools have been destroyed."

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he will go to the islands has soon as weather conditions permit.

In the United Kingdom, the government said Irma inflicted "severe and in places critical" damage to the British overseas territory of Anguilla. Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan said the Caribbean island took the full force of the hurricane. He told lawmakers on Thursday that the British Virgin islands have also suffered "severe damage."

Irma blacked out much of Puerto Rico, raking the U.S. territory with heavy wind and rain while staying just out to sea, and it headed early Thursday toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

To the east, authorities struggled to get aid to small Caribbean islands devastated by the storm's record 185 mph winds. Communications were difficult with areas hit by Irma, and information on damage trickled out.

Nearly every building on Barbuda was damaged when the hurricane's core crossed almost directly over the island early Wednesday and about 60 percent of its roughly 1,400 residents were left homeless, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told The Associated Press.

"It is just really a horrendous situation," Browne said after returning to Antigua from a plane trip to the neighboring island.

He said roads and telecommunications systems were wrecked and recovery would take months, if not years. A 2-year-old child was killed as a family tried to escape a damaged home during the storm, Browne told the AP.

One death also was reported in the nearby island of Anguilla, where officials reported extensive damage to the airport, hospitals, shelters and school and said 90 percent of roads are impassible, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

The agency also reported "major damage" to houses and commercial buildings in the British Virgin Islands.

On St. Thomas in the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands, Laura Strickling spent 12 hours hunkered down with her husband and 1-year-old daughter in a boarded-up basement apartment with no power as the storm raged outside. They emerged to find the lush island in tatters. Many of their neighbors' homes were damaged and once-dense vegetation was largely gone.

"There are no leaves. It is crazy. One of the things we loved about St. Thomas is that it was so green. And it's gone," Strickling said. "It will take years for this community to get back on its feet."

Significant damage was also reported on St. Martin, an island split between French and Dutch control. Photos and video circulating on social media showed major damage to the airport in Philipsburg and the coastal village of Marigot heavily flooded. France sent emergency food and water there and to the French island of St. Bart's, where Irma ripped off roofs and knocked out electricity.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Thursday the storm "caused widescale destruction of infrastructure, houses and businesses."

"There is no power, no gasoline, no running water. Houses are under water, cars are floating through the streets, inhabitants are sitting in the dark, in ruined houses and are cut off from the outside world," he said.

By early Thursday, the center of the storm was about 95 miles north of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and was moving west-northwest near 17 mph.

More than half the island of Puerto Rico was without power, leaving 900,000 in the dark and nearly 50,000 without water, the U.S. territory's emergency management agency said in the midst of the storm. Fourteen hospitals were using generators after losing power, and trees and light poles were strewn across roads.

Puerto Rico's public power company warned before the storm hit that some areas could be left without power from four to six months because its staff has been reduced and its infrastructure weakened by the island's decade-long economic slump.

President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to remove debris and give other services that will largely be paid for by the U.S. government.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted Irma would remain at Category 4 or 5 for the next day or two as passes just to the north of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday, nears the Turks & Caicos and parts of the Bahamas by Thursday night and skirts Cuba on Friday night into Saturday.

It will then likely head north toward Florida, where people were rushing to board up homes, fill cars with gasoline and find a route to safety.

Gov. Rick Scott, who has mobilized parts of the state's National Guard, declared a state of emergency and asked the governors of Alabama and Georgia to waive trucking regulations so gasoline tankers can get fuel into Florida quickly to ease shortages.

An estimated 25,000 people or more left the Florida Keys after all visitors were ordered to clear out, causing bumper-to-bumper traffic on the single highway that links the chain of low-lying islands to the mainland. </s> ABC News(MIAMI) — Hurricane Irma is currently “pummeling” Turks and Caicos with 175 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory.

The record Category 5 storm, which skirted north of the Dominican Republic early Thursday as the powerful Category 5 storm, has set its sights on south Florida after leaving a trail of death and destruction in the Caribbean. At least 13 people have been killed.

Irma, dubbed the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph on Thursday afternoon as it moved further away from the northern coast of Puerto Rico and over the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The wind speeds had dropped slightly from the day before, by about 10 mph.

“Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful Category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days,” the National Hurricane Center said in its advisory.

As of 8 p.m. ET, Irma was about 55 miles west-southwest of Grand Turk Island, the capital of Turks and Caicos, moving at 16 mph as it raced toward the tiny tropical archipelago southeast of the Bahamas, where the storm is expected to hit Thursday night. Much of Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas could get 8 to 12 inches of rain, with up to 20 inches in isolated spots through Saturday. A storm surge could bring water levels up to 20 feet above ground in Turks and Caicos.

A storm surge could also reach 5 feet on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic where Irma swept by on its way to Turks and Caicos.

Millions of children in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are at risk, according to Save the Children organization.

“Deadly storms have a bias against children. Storms often leave a lasting impact on young minds. Relief efforts should prioritize children – their needs, their emotional well-being,” Unni Krishnan, director of Save the Children’s emergency health unit, said in a statement Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center projects Irma will be near the central Bahamas by Friday and then make landfall in south Florida, near Miami, on Sunday morning as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing high winds, abundant rainfall and potentially dangerous storm surge.

The latest track has the storm shifted slightly to the west, which puts the worse side of the storm over the east coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who declared a statewide emergency earlier this week, has warned that the “massive storm” could be more treacherous than Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the Sunshine State 25 years ago.

“I want everybody to understand the importance of this. This is bigger than Andrew,” Scott said Wednesday in an interview from Tallahassee with ABC News’ “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts. “This could be worse.”

At a press conference Thursday, Scott said Irma could bring “life threatening” damage to Florida and he urged residents on the state’s east and west coast to be prepared to evacuate and to heed warnings from local officials, saying a storm surge could bring water levels up to 10 feet above ground.

“This could impact any part of our state,” Scott told reporters. “We’ll be doing evacuations, but everybody’s got to listen.”

Scott said he expects additional evacuation orders will be given once the storm gets closer.

Mandatory evacuations have already been ordered for parts of several Florida counties, including Brevard County, Broward County, Indian River County, Lee County, Martin County, Monroe County, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County, St. John’s County. Most of the mandatory evacuation zones were issued for barrier islands, coastal areas and for those living in mobile homes.

As of Thursday afternoon, about 650,000 people had been asked to evacuate Miami-Dade County alone, the southeastern-most county on the U.S. mainland with more than 2.7 million residents.

An estimated 1.2 Floridians statewide have been asked to evacuate.

Meanwhile, Palm Beach Mayor Gail Coniglio on Thursday declared a state of emergency for the town and ordered a mandatory evacuation for the entire island, where President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located.

ABC News estimates a total of around 1 million Floridians have been asked to evacuate. Voluntary evacuations have also been issued for certain regions.

Hurricane and storm surge watches were in effect for portions of south Florida and the Florida Keys on Thursday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center.



Irma leaves 13 dead in the Caribbean

The islands of St. Martin and Barbuda were especially hard hit in the storm on Wednesday, and officials there are continuing to assess the damage.

Irma delivered massive destruction to St. Martin, and at least eight people were killed and 21 more injured on the small island, according to French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb.

Although the airport was not destroyed, it is also not functional and support will have to be delivered via helicopter, Collomb said. He noted that 100,000 military emergency rations will be sent to the population.

One person — a toddler — was killed in Barbuda. The toddler drowned as the child’s mother tried to move to safer ground on Wednesday, according to Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

Barbuda suffered near-total destruction, with 90 percent of its structures destroyed, according to the prime minister, who described Irma like a “bomb” that shot “missiles” of debris across the island.

“When you have an unprecedented storm like this that comes with such significant wind force, this is like having a bomb literally thrown on a city,” Browne told ABC News in a telephone interview Thursday. “It is really the sheer magnitude of the winds that destroyed these properties.”

Barbuda recorded the strongest winds of any island in the path of Irma, with 155 mph gusts measured Wednesday morning. The prime minister on Thursday called for voluntary evacuations of Barbuda’s 2,000 inhabitants to Antigua, which fared better than its sister island during Irma, as a second hurricane, Jose, is strengthening and appears to be taking aim at the Caribbean.

One person also died in Anguilla where Irma caused “moderate to severe damage” to “critical infrastructure,” including the hospital, airport, fire station, police station, government buildings, public utilities and roads, according to the Department of Disaster Management in the British territory.

The U.S. Virgin Islands experienced a peak wind gust of 131 mph on Buck Island north of St. Croix on Wednesday.

Although Puerto Rico largely avoided the worst of Irma, with the highest wind gust on the Caribbean island measured at 70 mph, at least three people died there as a result of the storm’s impact, according to the governor’s office. A 79-old woman died at the hospital after she fell while being transported to a shelter, another woman died of electrocution and a man died in the hospital after getting in a car accident while driving in poor weather conditions.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said at a press conference Thursday morning that 6,200 people had hunkered down at shelters while Irma dropped 2 to 8 inches of rain across the island and up to 12 inches of rain in some isolated spots. One million customers were without power and 17 percent of the U.S. territory doesn’t have access to safe water.

Officials began assessing the extent of the damage Thursday, Rossello said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday launched crews to conduct search and rescue flights in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to assist anyone potentially in distress after Irma, while also conducting overflight and surface port assessments.

“Our first priority is ensuring safety of lives and helping anyone in distress. Following that, reopening the ports is a top priority, but we have to make sure we also do it safely,” Capt. Eric King, commander of Sector San Juan and the incident commander, said in a statement. “Opening the port prematurely could create a situation for a greater risk or incident, which could ultimately result in an even longer port closure. We must ensure the port is clear of any obstructions and any significant damage to the port infrastructure from the storm that would prevent the flow of commercial commerce.
Hurricane Irma's death toll this week is at least 21 people after recently hitting Cuba and The Bahamas as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (250 km/h).