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Related: Hurricane Irma live updates: Florida evacuates millions as superstorm makes landfall in Cuba
If you are planning to leave and do not leave tonight, you will have to ride out this extremely dangerous storm at your own risk.
Related: Irma's destruction: island by island
Cuba’s Meteorology Institute confirms the US National Hurricane Center verdict: Irma has made landfall there at category five intensity.
A report on its website reads:
Hurricane Irma is striking Camaguey and Ciego de Avila as a category five hurricane …
The Camaguey weather station recorded a 200kph (124mph) gust of wind from the northwest, causing the wind gauge to be destroyed.
Here is what the latest forecast says about Hurricane Irma’s predicted path:
Irma is moving toward the west near 12mph (19kph). A turn toward the northwest is expected by late today [Saturday].
On the forecast track, the centre of Irma will move near the north coast of Cuba today, near the Florida Keys Sunday morning, and then near the southwest coast of Florida Sunday afternoon.
The US National Hurricane Center says Jose remains a category four storm as it heads towards the Leeward Islands on Saturday.
But Katia – formerly a category one hurricane as it made landfall in Mexico – has been downgraded to a tropical storm.
A 2am local time advisory from the US National Hurricane Center confirms that Irma is still moving directly over Cuba’s Camaguey archipelago and remains at category five.
Irma is currently 85 miles (135km) east-south-east of the Cuban northern city of Caibarién, and about 275 miles (440km) from Miami, with wind speeds of 160mph (260kph).
Basil Dean, from the Bahamas meteorology department in Nassau, says the effects of Irma in some parts of the Bahamas has not been as severe as was feared (the full force of the hurricane was instead felt in Cuba).
Dean told CNN:
Right now we’re having some light rains here in the capital … we don’t expect much more than we’re experiencing right now, even though we’re under a hurricane warning.
New Providence [the island where Nassau and most of the population are] is pretty much well to the east of the centre circulation and we anticipate the condition will be pretty much the same: occasional rain showers developing here and there.
Ragged Island would have been the last island in the Bahamas that would have experienced the hurricane-force winds.
In the south-east Bahamas, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, there’s been a major impact from Irma … The eye passed directly over Ragged Island.
Related: Turks and Caicos Islands hit by Hurricane Irma
Dutch naval commander Peter Jan de Vin has shared images of relief efforts on Sint Maarten, which is administered by the Netherlands.
Dialysis patients were airlifted from the stricken island on Friday:
Geslaagde evacuatie dialyse patiënten uit Sint Maarten met Kustwacht Dash 8. Morgen volgt restant patiënten met Hercules C-130 @kon_marine. pic.twitter.com/K8MYRu3snQ
Flyers boven St Maarten vanuit heli ZEELAND om bevolking te waarschuwen voor orkaan José . Oproep om naar shelters te gaan.@kon_marine#irmapic.twitter.com/EvS5hLcLXK
The evacuation ongoing in Florida and beyond is among the largest in US history.
In Florida, 5.6 million people – that’s more than one-quarter of the state’s population – have been ordered to leave,
If you are planning to leave and do not leave tonight, you will have to ride out this extremely dangerous storm at your own risk.
The outer bands of Hurricane Irma have reached the US, with rain and increased wind speeds in south Florida and the Keys.
The centre of the storm remains over northern Cuba, where the Camaguey archipelago has borne the brunt.
1245a: Outer bands of #Irma are moving into south Florida & down the upper and middle Keys, gusts 40 to 50 mph are possible. #FLkeys#flwxpic.twitter.com/M0PhDqGEou
Hurricane Jose has moved closer to category five strength, with tops winds of 155mph (250kmh) as it heads towards the eastern Caribbean islands ravaged by Hurricane Irma.
Jose was about 265 miles (430km) east-south-east of the northern Leeward Islands early on Saturday and is forecast to hit the outlying Caribbean islands later in the day.
Related: Hurricane Jose: storm 'almost category five' as it follows Irma's destructive path
These graphics from the US National Hurricane Center show first, the most likely arrival times of tropical storm-force winds (which will precede Irma’s full-strength landfall), and second, the earliest times such winds could arrive.
Although the hurricane itself is forecast to arrive on Sunday morning, Florida will be seeing extremely strong winds from Saturday morning, sweeping up through the state.
Cuba – at just after midnight – is currently bearing the brunt of Irma, as it made landfall in the north of the country and returned to category five intensity.
Reuters reports:
The scenes along Cuba’s north central coast were gradually coming to resemble the horrors of those of other Caribbean islands over the last week as Irma barrelled in for a direct hit at Ciego de Avila province around midnight.
Choppy seas, grey skies, sheets of rain, bending palm trees, huge waves crashing over sea walls and downed power lines filled state-run television’s evening newscast.
Florida’s Palm Beach county has said it will impose a curfew from 3pm Saturday, ahead of the arrival of tropical storm-force winds.
Officials do not want people out in the streets – or risk them needing rescue or emergency services – as Irma approaches. Those who have not evacuated are urged to seek safe shelter.
Timothy Harris, prime minister of St Kitts & Nevis, has warned that the approaching Hurricane Jose will affect the islands – but, as with Irma, they should escape its worst effects.
Senior meteorological officer Elmo Burke says outer rain bands from Jose will reach St Kitts & Nevis overnight and into Saturday, with its closest passing late afternoon on Saturday. Sunday, at least, will bring better weather conditions.
Florida governor Rick Scott has issued another plea for residents in evacuation zones – which cover 5.6 million people – to leave.
Scott says evacuation orders are also being issued further up the west coast of the state, given forecasts predicting that Irma could now track west.
prepared to locate to the closest available shelter within their counties if they do not evacuate by noon tomorrow [Saturday].
With Irma returning to category five, and Jose close to it, a third hurricane has just made landfall – though with thankfully lesser intensity.
Hurricane Katia, which is category one, has just made landfall in Mexico, north of Tecolutla, with wind speeds of 75mph (120kph).
Rapid weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours.
Here is Irma making landfall in Cuba, where the hurricane has hit the Camaguey archipelago, just off the northern coast.
#Irma has officially made landfall in Cuba as a Cat. 5 - the 1st Cat. 5 hurricane to make landfall in Cuba since 1924. pic.twitter.com/ue9wTMZta7
The NHC forecast says Irma is now predicted to move to the Florida Keys on Sunday morning local time, then to the south-west coast of Florida by Sunday afternoon.
The latest NHC update has upgraded Irma back to category five. Here are the key points:
The US National Hurricane Center confirms that Irma, which dipped slightly to category four, has returned to category five intensity.
Irma has made landfall in Cuba.
With Hurricane Jose hot on the heels of Irma – which left 90% of the island of Barbuda devastated – almost all of its population of around 1,400 people has been evacuated to the larger sister island of Antigua.
Except for a few persons who resisted the call to evacuate and the security forces the EVACUATION OF BARBUDA IS COMPLETE.. pic.twitter.com/bk5ZWdi8ky
The latest update from the US National Hurricane Center, which is monitoring Hurricane Jose, due to hit the already stricken islands of Barbuda and Anguilla on Saturday, says it is close to becoming a category 5 storm.
Jose is currently 265 miles (430km) from the Leeward Islands, with wind speeds of 155mph (250kph).
Where are the 5.6 million people told to evacuate their Florida homes and hotels going? Associated Press has talked to some of them:
Floridians fleeing Hurricane Irma have turned freeways across the south-east US into red ribbons of brake lights as they head to Atlanta, Montgomery or Nashville to bunk with relatives, stay at campgrounds or grab hotels before the massive storm makes landfall.
Because Interstate 75 north leads straight to Atlanta, thousands of the evacuees have funneled into the city. Others trekked on to Tennessee.
Monica Scandlen took a flight from Orlando into Nashville with her nine-year-old daughter.
“You could tell they weren’t Disney families, because we all looked sort of last minute and a little worried,” said Scandlen, who is staying with friends in Franklin, Tennessee. “There were a lot more pets than I’m used to seeing.”
Power is out in Caibarién and other areas along the northern coast of Cuba
Heavy winds and rains are due to continue there throughout Friday night – it’s currently around 10.30pm local time – and into Saturday.
Satellite images of Barbuda, the island first hit by Irma’s full force, appear to show it stripped of vegetation. The image on the right is before the storm; the second, after:
Le ciel clair sur #Barbuda cet après-midi permet de constater l'ampleur du désastre même depuis le satellite MODIS/Aqua. #Irmapic.twitter.com/vucEdWkrj1
Fema chief Brock Long says he thinks the authorities are prepared for the recovery efforts that will need to swing into place behind Irma. But, he told CNN, those efforts will need to be on a huge scale:
The forecast models are in great agreement: Florida’s going to get hit.
Particularly what stands out is that the forward speed of this storm is starting to slow down, which indicates it’s about to make its turn to the north.
Citizens of south Florida need to set their expectations that the power could be off for multiple days, if not weeks, in some areas.
Fema (the US Federal Emergency Management Agency) has set up a web page to dispel myths and rumours surrounding Hurricane Irma and the Florida evacuations. You can find it here.
It covers rumours including the high demand for fuel (true) and that hotels must take in pets who arrive with their evacuated owners (false) – although emergency shelters will take pets.
Florida has two nuclear power plants directly in Irma’s projected path.
The St Lucie plant is on the east coast, on a barrier island, while Turkey Point is 25 miles south of Miami.
UK relief efforts are underway on the British Virgin Islands, Press Association reports:
Off the coast of the British Virgin Islands, the captain of the naval vessel spearheading Britain’s efforts described scenes of destruction.
Stephen Norris, commanding officer of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Mounts Bay, told the Press Association:
I haven’t seen anything on the scale of what we have seen here. It is one of those storms which I think defies all expectations.”
Engineers, marines and medics are on board the ship, which delivered six tonnes of supplies to Anguilla and carried out repair work before moving to the British Virgin Islands.
Norris said:
We will be here as long as it takes. I will stay here as long as I possibly can to support the islands.”
The UK Department for International Development said a further 20 tonnes of aide was en route to the disaster zone.
The British Virgin Islands is also on tropical storm watch as Hurricane Jose approaches, while the Commonwealth islands of Barbuda and Antigua and British territory of Anguilla are on hurricane watch.
This image shows Hurricane Irma (on the left, over Cuba) and Hurricane Jose (on the right, heading towards the Leeward Islands) – both category four storms:
Current image of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Jose.
Imagen actual del Huracán Irma y Huracán Jose. (sat 0045Z) #prwx#usviwx#Irma#Josepic.twitter.com/RP9pt676OD
CNN’s Cyril Vanier, speaking from the Bahamas capital of Nassau, said the island group should be spared the worst of Irma – although the hurricane has yet to pass this part of the archipelago:
We are waiting for the worst of it.
The forecasts here have been proved slightly wrong - but in a good way … We’re talking tropical storm-force winds …
The White House says US president Donald Trump has spoken to his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to offer US support for relief efforts in the French overseas collectivities of St Martin and St Barthélemy.
The two islands suffered massive damage from Irma, with the French part of St Martin (the southern side, St Maarten, is administered by the Netherlands) said to be 95% destroyed.
The US National Hurricane Center says hurricane warnings are in effect in the following places:
A storm surge warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours.
CBS in Miami reports that even emergency responders in the Florida Keys are expected to evacuate ahead of Irma’s arrival:
1/2 BREAKING: @CBSMiami has learned emergency officials in the Keys have notified @FLGovScott that first-responders will likely evacuate...
2/2 ...the Keys in the morning. Emergency Operations Center will close. Not willing to risk lives for this storm, officials say. @CBSMiami
Monroe County will also evacuate the jail because they don't want to leave any deputies behind to guard them. @CBSMiami
Irma is currently closing in on Caibarién, a city on Cuba’s north coast, with wind speeds of 155mph (250kph).
Hurricane warnings are in place for the Cuban provinces of Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, and Villa Clara.
An update from the US National Hurricane Center on Irma confirms the south-western eyewall is currently moving over the north coast of Cuba.
The latest advisory from the US National Hurricane Center confirms that Irma’s successor, Hurricane Jose, remains at category four and is forecast to reach the northern Leeward Islands on Saturday.
Hurricane warnings are in place for several islands already smashed by Irma:
The chairs of the UK’s foreign affairs and development select committees have asked the government to explain its response to Hurricane Irma, which has been widely deemed as inadequate.
Tom Tugendhat and Stephen Twigg wrote:
Experts and many in the area have been critical of the overall level of relief currently on offer as well as the apparent lack of forward thinking once the storm’s route to Florida became more than just a possibility.
We are concerned that many in the UK’s overseas territories in the Caribbean are still in grave need.
Related: Theresa May urged to explain lacklustre Hurricane Irma response
Currently in Irma’s sights, after it barrelled over the Turks and Caicos Islands, are the Bahamas and Cuba.
Through Friday night and into Saturday, the hurricane is forecast to move over Cuba’s north coast and the central Bahamas, with wind speeds of up to 155mph (250kph).
630pm - #GOES16 imagery showing the eye of Hurricane #Irma continuing to head toward the Bahamas and Cuba this evening. pic.twitter.com/NMArrmqagc
Some 5.6 million people have been ordered to evacuate Florida – reportedly the largest evacuation in US history.
Governor Rick Scott told people who had not already left to get out now:
If you are planning to leave and do not leave tonight, you will have to ride out this extremely dangerous storm at your own risk.
Storm surge flooding can happen fast -- very fast. This @ncargis animation shows just how much flooding can occur in only 12 minutes. #Irmapic.twitter.com/IJRFNdvRKj
The first victim of Irma was two-year-old Carl Junior Francis, Associated Press reports:
On Barbuda, a coral island rising a mere 125ft (38m) above sea level, authorities ordered an evacuation of all 1,400 people to neighbouring Antigua, where Stevet Jeremiah was reunited with one son and made plans to bury another.
Jeremiah, who sells lobster and crab to tourists, was huddled in her wooden home on Barbuda early Wednesday with her partner and their two- and four-year-old boys as Irma ripped open their metal roof and sent the ocean surging into the house.
Virgin businessman Richard Branson – who saw out the storm in a concrete bunker on his private island, Necker – has posted from Virgin Gorda, also in the British Virgin Islands, about recovery efforts.
Branson writes:
Communications in and out of the BVI are still mostly down, but we have a satellite phone working to share updates … There is a huge amount of damage to buildings, but fortunately everyone we have seen so far has been OK.
The boats are piled up like matchsticks in the harbour. Huge cargo ships were thrown out of the water and into rocks. Resorts have been decimated.
As with Necker & Moskito, buildings destroyed but people thankfully all seem ok so far https://t.co/U0m3Kf1APM#Irmapic.twitter.com/8dWfUIbOuP
The National Hurricane Center is warning people in Florida not to hope for a last-minute swerve from the approaching Irma.
Dennis Feltgen, an NHC meteorologist and spokesman, said:
This is a storm that will kill you if you don’t get out of the way.
Everybody’s going to feel this one.
This is Claire Phipps picking up our live coverage.
The Antigua and Barbuda Met Office has warned that Jose – now a category four hurricane, with wind speeds of 150mph (240kph) – could make its presence felt in the northern Leeward Islands as early as midnight.
As state and federal agencies make their final pleas to Floridians, the National Hurricane Center scientist Taylor Trogdon stresses the sheer scale of hurricane Irma.
The storm, currently cast its eye across the waters north of Cuba, will make landfall on the peninsula sometime late Saturday or early Sunday.
Everyone across south Florida who prepared their home, evacuated, or both, be confident in that decision. Impacts will be wide-ranging. pic.twitter.com/0zmaujGgGe
Miami has become eerily desolate in anticipation of hurricane Irma, with boarded up buildings, empty streets, and plastic wrap and police cordons around gas stations.
Miami Int’l Airport essentially a ghost town after handling more passengers today than any day in the last 10 years, spox tells @ABC. #Irmapic.twitter.com/tKGJN2rczR
The 5pm forecast from the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service show hurricane Irma on the verge of returning to a category five storm, energized by the warm waters off Cuba and Florida.
The projection looks especially dire for the Florida Keys and south-west Florida.
5pm track from from NHC paints a grim picture for the Keys and southwest Florida. NHC brings #Irma to Cat 5 160 mph before hitting the Keys. pic.twitter.com/aZAu24xQCR
***THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS***
***NOWHERE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS WILL BE SAFE***
***YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO EVACUATE***
Please RT. #Irmapic.twitter.com/VWLMEDWoUs
President Donald Trump has signed a $15.3bn aid package for areas affected by hurricane Harvey, hours after Congress overcame dissent by Republicans on a spending package.
The deal does not yet account for the expected high costs from hurricane Irma. In 1992, hurricane Andrew struck west of Miami, destroyed more than 60,000 homes, and killed 65 people. The recovery cost an estimated $26.5bn. Andrew struck as a category five storm, but was in some ways pales in comparison to Irma.
.@POTUS just signed H.R. 601 providing much needed support for storm survivors. Our thoughts and prayers are with all impacted.
French authorities in St Martin and St Barts have reported two more deaths, according to the AP, and police in Broward County, Florida, have said a 57-year-old man died while preparing for the storm.
The Davie Police Department said on Friday that the man, who was affixing storm shutters to the second story of a home, fell from a two-story ladder and struck his head on a patio below.
Hurricane Katia is approaching the coast of Mexico, the National Weather Service has said in its latest update, warning that the storm will make landfall on Friday night or early Saturday.
The storm will have maximum winds around 105mph (165kph), and that “a dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as five to eight feet above normal tide levels” in the area of landfall, the agency said. “Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”
Hurricane #Katia Advisory 13: Katia Nearing the Coast of Mexico. Dangerous Storm Surge Expected. https://t.co/VqHn0uj6EM
*Update: Climate Central has retracted a simulation of Irma’s potential effect on Miami and other south Florida cities, saying in a statement that it had used “an incorrect tidal point reference” in calculating the severity of floods.
Our previous visualization contained an error that we regret. Details below pic.twitter.com/ThZoR6BSgg
Mayor Sharief echoes her peers around the state, warning residents that once the storm strikes, much of the state will be paralyzed for its duration.
“Our law enforcement personnel and fire department personnel will not be able to reach you,” Sharief warns. “When wind speedsreach 45mph our vehicles will no longer be able to respond to 911 calls.”
Miami is a ghost town. #hurricanirmapic.twitter.com/6T3z5k8z0l
Broward county mayor Barbara Sharief is giving a briefing in south Florida, with a message for nearly the entire state to get garbage bins and other objects out of the streets.
“Bulk pickup has stopped and they will become projectiles in the storm,” she warns. “Power outages from high wind and flooding are anticipated.”
Those under #HurricaneIrma watch or warning, you have about 3 daylight hours to finish up shutters. Tomorrow too windy most of day #Sayfie
Beginning at 5 pm today, there is a mandatory evacuation for the beachside, low-lying areas & people in RVs, mobile and manufactured homes.
Rupert Jones, the former attorney general of the British territory of Anguila, has criticzed the British government’s response to hurricane Irma, saying it is not nearly enough and lacks perspective for the enormity of the disaster.
“It is a ridiculous idea that the £32 million pledged by the Uk Govt to its three overseas territories (Anguilla, BVI and Turks & Caicos) for which it is responsible is fair or just,” Jones told the Guardian. “It is a PR drop in the Caribbean ocean for islands subject to devastation and inhabited by its own citizens. To put it in perspective it wasted £285 million on an unusable airport for St Helena, one of its territories in the Atlantic.”
Related: UK releases £32m in Hurricane Irma aid after complaints over initial response
Orlando’s sprawling theme parks are closing ahead of hurricane Irma, their parent corporations announced on Friday.
Officials at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando said their parks would close on Saturday and remain quiet through Monday at least, though they hope to reopen on Tuesday. SeaWorld and Tampa’s Busch Gardens announced similar plans to close Saturday afternoon or evening and reopen on Tuesday.
"The spires of Cinderella's Castle at Disney's Magic Kingdom are being removed in preparation for Hurricane Irma, … https://t.co/cv3VsWKAplpic.twitter.com/1BsQib1pLt
Vanessa Thompson, a teacher on the British territory of Anguilla, has recorded video of the island’s only secondary school. The buildings are in partial ruins, with roofs lifted onto the streets, walls shorn from classrooms, and debris scattered everywhere.
Donald Trump’s parting remarks on hurricane Irma, which is approximately 380 miles south south-west of the US mainland.
.@POTUS comments on Irma leaving the White House this afternoon --> pic.twitter.com/YPRRVNwKSx
The National Hurricane Center has updated its forecast to take into account the latest from the NWS, predicting 10-15in of rain in south-east Florida through Tuesday night.
Eastern Florida and coastal Georgia should expect anywhere from eight to 16in, the agency said, with flash floods and mudslides possible. Like state authorities, the agency warned that storm surges should not be underestimated. In south-west Florida, waves could move six to 12ft above ground at high tide.
If you’re directed to evacuate due to #Irma and need a safe place to go, you can find a list of shelters in our app: https://t.co/WZ95DuyXbfpic.twitter.com/Br6CQhARRA
On Barbuda, tragedy has colored the hurried, now mandatory evacuation from the tiny island, where category four hurricane Jose is approaching. The AP reports:
Stevet Jeremiah lost her 2-year-old son, her house and all her belongings when Hurricane Irma slammed into the tiny island of Barbuda. Now she is leaving the island for good.
Jeremiah said her mother and other son had been sent to Antigua and she and her husband were going to follow. She said she has “nothing, not even an ID to say my name.”
“Gouging will not be tolerated, period,” Bossert says, again echoing Florida governor Rick Scott in response to a question about predatory business practices.
He also says that he’s concerned about potential overflow from Lake Okeechobee, the large inland lake in south Florida. Scott said that engineers are regularly inspecting the lake’s dike and they believe that it is not at risk for breaking.
2pm Friday: FLASH FLOOD WATCH for areas near Lake Okeechobee. Mandatory evacuations are in effect! #FLwxpic.twitter.com/G0YsBb36nE
Bossert says he’s worried about the financial resources for disaster relief.
Fema is already coping with recovery from devastating floods in Houston, after hurricane Harvey, and agencies around the country are strained, especially with western wildfires. Bossert says the president, Donald Trump, will sign approval for relief funds as soon as Congress brings such a measure to his desk.
12Z GFS in good agreement with NHC forecast track of Irma. Extremely dangerous setup for the Florida Peninsula. pic.twitter.com/ikdpRVYiWt
White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert is speaking to reporters about the US preparation for hurricane Irma.
Fuel is particularly important, he says, echoing Florida governor Rick Scott. Foreign ships have been allowed to bring fuel to Florida, he says, to provide residents with the fuel to evacuate before the storm, for power during and after the storm, and for vehicles during the recovery.
Nearing the warmer waters of the Bahamas and Cuba, hurricane Irma’s winds have increased to 155mph, according to a 2pm advisory by the National Weather Service.
On Cuba, Reuters reports that life has come to a near total stop.
Schools and most businesses were closed, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated, and train, bus and domestic air services around the island were canceled. Airports were closing to international flights as conditions warranted. 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.
Life-threatening wind & storm surge impacts expected in the #FLKeys, especially the Middle & Upper Keys, Sat. night & Sunday. #Irma#FLwxpic.twitter.com/ezckf9Ce86
The UN’s special representative for disaster risk reduction, Robert Glasser, has joined the chorus of voices linking the extraordinary frequency and force of weather events – huge hurricanes, wildfires across the American west, flooding in Nigeria and India – to the exacerbating effect of climate change.
“There can be little doubt that 2017 is turning into a year of historic significance,” Glasser said, “in the struggle against climate change and all the other risks that put human life in danger and threaten the peace and security of exposed and vulnerable communities around the world who find themselves in harm’s way from hurricanes, floods and earthquakes.”
We must realise that these disaster events are not natural phenomena but are a result of a built environment which is not fit for purpose and a failure to understand how we are intensifying the cocktail of disaster risk by not adequately addressing poverty, land use, building codes, environmental degradation, population growth in exposed in vulnerable settings and, most fundamentally, greenhouse gas emissions.
The floods and monsoon rains across South Asia, deadly landslides and drought in Africa, the impact of four major Atlantic hurricanes, a major earthquake in Mexico with a tsunami threat to central America vividly demonstrate that we need to redouble our efforts to reduce the impact of such events in the future. They are a reminder to us all that the worst disasters which could happen have not happened yet.
Residents of Barbuda, where the prime minister estimated 90% of the buildings were damaged or destroyed, recall surviving hurricane Irma’s 170mph winds and huge storm surges.
Florida governor Rick Scott is holding another briefing for the public, exhorting people to move now if they haven’t already.
“If you’re in an evacuation zone, leave. it’s as simple as that,” he says. He suggests people to county shelters or friends’ homes away from the coasts, rather than join the mass exodus on northbound. “Don’t wait. If you’re going to leave, leave. If you’ know what’s going to happen, do it now. The mistake is when people wait.”
Authorities in Barbados and Dutch St Maarten have reported an additional death on each island, and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency has released a statement saying that four people have died on the British Virgin Islands, raising the death toll to more than 20.
Local authorities have yet to corroborate the figure from the CDEMA. On Barbados, a young surfer died earlier this week, a family friend told the AP, in powerful waves churned up by the hurricane.
Seven cities near Lake Okeechobee, a huge inland lake in southern Florida, have been given a mandatory evacuation notice.
Residents have been ordered to evacuate from South Bay, Lake Harbor, Pahokee, Moore Haven, Clewiston, Belle Glade and Canal Point. Governor Rick Scott said that a critical dike on the lake was inspected on Friday morning, and will receive regular inspections as long as crews are able. He also said the US army corps of engineers assured him that the dike “will not be compromised”, though it may have some spillover, since the storm is far faster-moving than hurricane Harvey, which flooded Houston.
Northern Cuba and the southern Bahamas are now suffering Irma’s 150mph winds, glimpses of which are seeping through on social media. Local Bahamian broadcaster Shenique Miller has posted video of the winds.
#IrmaHurricane2017 Southern Bahamas #Acklins#HurricaneIrmapic.twitter.com/4Qa6y2wHT3
The #TurksandCaicos airport on #Providenciales thanks to #Irmapic.twitter.com/6dQXeGmAEJ
Authorities warn again that everyone should leave the Florida Keys immediately. Governor Rick Scott said on Thursday that the archipelago will be entirely without support for the duration of the storm, cut off by winds and storm surges, with its hospital closed.
If you have not evacuated yet, you are encouraged to do so now. we're facing a potentially catastrophic hurricane. It's not safe to stay.
I repeat: eyewall replacement cycle completed. New Irma eye is nearly double the size it was yesterday. Many more to experience dreaded eye.
Hurricane Jose, east of the Caribbean and heading west, has grown to a category four storm, the National Weather Service has announced.
Thousands remain trapped on St Martin, St Barts, and the Virgin Islands in Jose’s path. On the devastated island of Barbuda, officials have ordered people to evacuate to nearby Antigua, which was spared the degree of destruction. Jose is tentatively projected to veer north, into the open ocean, before nearing Cuba or the mainland, but it may yet change direction.
2 Atlantic hurricanes currently have winds of 150 mph (#Irma and #Jose) - 1st time on record Atlantic has had 2 150+ mph storms at same time pic.twitter.com/SZm1VMTCOs
Footage of waves pouring into a home on Anguilla, filmed by a resident in his kitchen and provided by Rupert Jones, former attorney general of the British territory.
Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach County, has been ordered to evacuate along with other coastal stretches and barrier islands of south Florida.
More than 100,000 Palm Beach County residents were given mandatory evacuation alerts on Thursday night and Friday morning, and more than a million people ordered to leave their homes along coastal areas, mostly from the densely populated Miami-Dade County.
With only about a day before hurricane Irma reaches south Florida, FlightRadar24, a site that tracks aircraft in real-time, shows the state is swarming with flights. Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed from the region’s major airports over the last 24 hours, as people tried to leave the state.
Fort Lauderdale’s international airport will close Friday night, and Miami International has warned that people should not attempt to use it as a shelter from the storm.
With time running out before Irma makes land, much of south Florida has emptied out, leaving behind boarded up homes, vulnerable marinas, and scattered families and reporters bracing for the storm.
Eerily quiet on #clearwaterbeach this morn. Houses boarded up, streets empty, bracing for #hurricaneirma#tbtirmapic.twitter.com/KRaFMy3rTn
Eerie calm at the Delray Beach marina, where neighboring homes are in an evacuation zone. #HurricaneIrmapic.twitter.com/VaEBUYNK66
Various Florida authorities are offering last minute advice for people who are barricading into their own homes before the storm. Residents can also call an emergency information hotline: 1.800.342.3557.
#Hurricane Pro Tip: Fill up your washing machine with ice & fill with items you want to keep chilled. Close the lid & it'll stay cool.
This is a good one! We have also heard that if you store things in your closed and locked dishwasher, they will stay dry. https://t.co/LaZ4oDGoIq
Floridians- See important #HurricaneIrma contact info below or find your county’s emergency management info here: https://t.co/DoWh2FqLTnpic.twitter.com/aFini3NeLR
Hello Jane, we do not recommend storing valuables in the Dishwasher.
A reporter asks the governor about Lake Okeechobee, where there’s concern about whether a dike will withstand the hurricane.
Scott says that the dike was inspected this morning and “they don’t believe that the dike is at risk.” Expecting 10-12in of rain, “they don’t believe we’re expecting anything other than water spilling over the top.”
“Please be compassionate with your employees,” the governor urges employers. “If you’re told to evacuate, leave. Get out quickly. Do not put yourself or your family’s life at risk.”
“If you are in an evacuation zone in south Florida, you need to leave.”
Governor Rick Scott is providing an update on the monstrous storm bearing down on Florida, and warned residents that there may be storm surges from three to 10ft in parts of the state.
“This storm is wider than our entire state. All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate soon,” Scott says. He thanks people who are on their way inland and to the north, and asks them for their patience.
Irma has left the Franco-Dutch island of St Martin/St Maarten like “war zone,” Belgium tourist Flaming Maarten told the Dutch Red Cross.
It quotes him saying: “Everyone was prepared for the hurricane’s arrival, but no one had expected such an impact.”
In his latest tweets Donald Trump has warned that the impact of Irma could be “tougher” than Hurricane Harvey.
Our incredible U.S. Coast Guard saved more than 15,000 lives last week with Harvey. Irma could be even tougher. We love our Coast Guard!
Hurricane 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!
President Donald Trump’s seaside Mar-a-Lago resort has been ordered to evacuate because of Hurricane Irma, along with the barrier islands and low-lying areas of Palm Beach County.
Trump has returned repeatedly to the private club – which he bought in 1985 – to relax and conduct state business since becoming president.
The estimated death toll from the storm varies. Reuters reckons that at least 19 people have been killed.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said that nine people were killed and at least seven were missing after the hurricane crashed into France’s Caribbean islands of St. Martin and St Barts.
“One hundred and twelve people were injured,” Collomb said, adding there could be more victims.
Theresa May has spoken of the devastation in the Caribbean ahead of chairing a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee, PA reports.
She went to the meeting after cutting short a visit to Lord’s cricket ground, where the Test match between England and the West Indies was suspended because of rain.
“We are sitting here looking at this rain, but at least we are not in the Caribbean at the moment, when we see the terrible devastation of that hurricane that’s gone through and another one coming through as well.
“I’ve just been able to talk to somebody whose family is out in Antigua, and hearing first-hand what it’s like and the steps they’ve had to take. It is devastating, absolutely devastating.”
The Met Office reckons Irma is passing over Acklins island in the Bahamas. The island is home to more than 400 people. It is feared that more than 100 ignored evacuation orders.
The eye of Hurricane #Irma now passing to the south of Acklins Island in the #Bahamas with winds near 150 mph pic.twitter.com/MZT41rF9ta
Brock Long, head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, warned that no one in Florida has experienced a storm with the intensity of Irma.
“It’s not a question of if Florida is going to be impacted, it’s a question of how bad,” he tells reporters.
"I don't know anyone in Florida who has experienced a storm like this." @FEMA_Brock on impacts of #IrmaHurricane vs Andrew comparisons.
Press conference, pro tip @FEMA_Brock "we're going to need neighbors checking neighbors" after Irma hits. #HurricaineIrma
The navy ship Mounts Bay has arrived in the British Virgin Islands, after delivering aid to Anguilla, according to the former governor John Duncan.
Mounts Bay has now arrived in #BVI#Irma#HurricaneIrmahttps://t.co/xN3S5DNfPm
Irma remains an extremely dangerous category four hurricane, but it has slightly weakened again, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.
Here are key points from the latest bulletin:
Hurricane #Irma Advisory 37A: Now available on the NHC website. https://t.co/VqHn0uj6EM
Theresa May is to chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee this afternoon, Downing Street has said, and will then decide what more action the government should take over relief efforts.
There was also a Cobra meeting about Irma on Thursday, though that was chaired by the defence secretary, Michael Fallon.
Nine people have been killed and at least seven are missing after Irma hit France’s Caribbean islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, the French interior minister has said. A further 112 people are confirmed to have been injured, and all those tolls could rise, Gérard Collomb added.
Collomb’s statement raises the overall confirmed death toll to 18.
The Department for International Development has sent through a breakdown of the help arriving and on it way to the Caribbean after the UK was criticised for its slow response. It said:
People in British Overseas Territories feel UK has not responded quickly enough to #Irma2017 ex-UN/ex-minister @ValerieAmos tells #BBCNewspic.twitter.com/EnfsDus42O
The first UK aid drops have been made by helicopter to the British island of Anguilla as more aid is on the way to the British Virgin Islands, according to the latest updates from the Department for International Developments.
#UKaid shelter kits delivered to British island of Anguilla by @RoyalNavy#Irmahttps://t.co/UcYowRG7Qw
#UKaid is on the ground from Mounts Bay - shelter kits to help with #Irma response in Anguilla. More going to British Virgin Islands. pic.twitter.com/SAI6fxrBCf
NEW; PM to chair #cobr meeting on #Irma this pm. Spokesman insists govt been swift in responding to British Virgin Island's call for help
Related: Irma's destruction: island by island
Terrorist suspects being held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay on Cuba will not be evacuated, a Pentagon official has told Newsweek.
“We have no indications that any detainees at Guantanamo Bay will need to be evacuated from the installation due to Hurricane Irma,” Major Ben Sakrisson, a Pentagon spokesman told the magazine.
The Governor of the British Virgin Islands, Gus Jaspert, has delivered an emotional message to islanders saying he is “heartbroken” by reports of casualties as a result of the hurricane.
In an audio message on Facebook he said:
I come to you with a heavy heart after experiencing and observing the extent of devastation caused by Hurricane Irma. After consultation with the Premier I have declared a state of emergency for the territory. Radio and other communication channels are extremely limited ...
All of us have been affected by Irma and some more than others. Apart from the structural damage, there have sadly been reports of casualties and fatalities. I am truly heartbroken by this news. My thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of you.
On its current track, Jose is predicted to pass north of the Virgin Islands, possibly as a Category 3 hurricane on Saturday or Sunday. If it stays north of us we will not be significantly affected. But if it comes any closer to us we will be affected and so our preparation and response efforts have to be immediate. We need your cooperation and your support to ensure that we can ramp up our operations in the event that we are impacted again.
Let us all continue to help each other however we can and continue to pray for each other. May God bless and protect the territory and our people.”
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte says the runway on St Maarten has been cleared and first aid flight has arrived.
In a Facebook update he said there has been enormous destruction and upheaval on the Franco-Dutch island.
“We’ve been able to clear the runway at the airport and a first plane has landed. Our troops have been able to unload supplies at the port. We are now trying to get as much food, water and medicine as possible in the shortest possible time.
We need to hurry because the next hurricane is coming. The latest reports are that hurricane José is less powerful and Sint Maarten and will pass further from the island. That is some good news in all the misery. But we are prepared for everything and will keep an eye on the situation. We won’t abandon St Maarten.”
#BREAKING Looting situation 'serious' in hurricane-hit St Martin: Dutch PM
Video - plunderingen op Sint-Maarten na orkaan Irma. https://t.co/33ype6UZN2pic.twitter.com/X0PXgMeZ7o
Here’s the slightly adjusted track and timings of impact from the latest update. Miami still lies directly in its path.
Those in central Florida have been warned to expect category tow strength winds of up to 110mph at the weekend.
Tropical storm winds are likely to arrive in the FL Keys and south FL Saturday. Preparations should be rushed to completion. #Irmapic.twitter.com/eto2KVWtgP
9/8 5AM Tropical Update: #Irma is an extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Hurricane Warning in effect for all of South Florida! #FLwxpic.twitter.com/D7eEA3WZw8
Irma is still “extremely dangerous” but it has been downgraded from a category 5 to a category 4 hurricane with sustained windspeeds of 155mph.
Here’s are the main points from the latest National Hurricane Center update:
Here are the 5 AM EDT Key Messages for #Irmahttps://t.co/tW4KeGdBFbpic.twitter.com/pGNthaZ4hr
While Irma has lost a little strength, two other Hurricanes in the region Katia and Jose have gained strength, according to the latest warnings from the National Hurricane Center.
Irma is still packing devastating sustained wind speeds of 155 mph (down from 185mph).
Hurricane #Jose Advisory 12: Jose a Little Stronger. https://t.co/VqHn0uj6EM
Hurricane #Katia Advisory 11: Katia a Little Stronger. https://t.co/VqHn0uj6EM
Captain Stephen Russell, of the Bahamas national emergency management agency, has expressed fears for hundreds of people who ignored evacuation orders on islands in the archipelago.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he said there were five islands that are likely to be worst hit by Irma: Great Inagua ( population 913); Mayaguana (277) Acklins (population 428); Crooked Islands (population 350); and Ragged Island (population 72).
The eye of Hurricane #Irma passes over Little Inagua Island in The Bahamas with winds near 160 mph pic.twitter.com/mKlhvRKnjX
Dutch troops have begun unloading aid on the Franco-Dutch island of St Martin/St Maarten.
KDC-10 geland op Curaçao. Uitladen opgestart voor hulp aan Sint Maarten. pic.twitter.com/DNbuqzEtFa
Assisteren van lokale autoriteiten en hulp bieden. Dat is wat er nu plaats vindt. Meer hulp is onderweg. Gevolgen catastrofaal. #Irma#SXMpic.twitter.com/1XX7CG579a
#Irma : 2 frégates de la @MarineNationale le Ventôse et le Germinal, vont porter assistance aux îles sinistrées https://t.co/lQYnn7NU4Kpic.twitter.com/qudx3tHWjs
The RFA Mount's Bay, carrying 40 Royal Marines and Army Engineers, is helping provide water, sanitation and temporary shelter #Irma#UKaidpic.twitter.com/wQCGoJD46H
A former official on the British dependency of Anguilla has an update on the carnage on the island left by Irma.
The official, who does not want to be named, said the island high school has been destroyed; the public works building has collapsed and part of the roof of the main hospital is missing.
One of the humanitarian experts sent by the British government to the Caribbean has admitted that the UK has not done as much for its territories in the the region as the Dutch and French government have for theirs.
Fergus Thomas is a member of two small humanitarian teams deployed to the Caribbean in the wake of Irma.
DFID humanitarian expert Fergus is now on the ground in Barbados, to help coordinate the response to #HurricaneIrma#UKaidpic.twitter.com/7E13bMJnev
The destructive force of a 25ft surge: that is our greatest concern. It can really cause catastrophic results
Hunker down, stay where you are … Nobody can get to you – people are, for a little while, on their own.
Related: Irma's destruction: island by island
From its current havoc in the Bahamas, Hurricane Irma is set to move across northern Cuba before hitting southern Florida and making its way up the state.
Governor Rick Scott has warned that the storm will be “bigger than our entire state” – as forecast images confirm:
Not a pretty picture for South Florida according to HWRF showing an intense #Irma. This is for early Sunday morning. #HurricaneIrmapic.twitter.com/tgiAWIe5o0
Irma has now whipped a path from Barbuda in the east to, currently, the Bahamas, with the north of Cuba and then Florida still in its sights.
We have been monitoring the effects of the category 5 storm on each island, as reports come in of casualties and damage:
Related: Irma's destruction: island by island
On an official visit to Greece, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was repeatedly forced to defend his decision to defer a trip to St Martin and other islands devastated by the storm.
Addressing reporters in Athens where he was conducting his first overseas visit, the French leader said he had decided to go ahead with the two-day trip to Greece, rather than attempt to head to the Caribbean, because prevailing weather conditions would not have permitted him to fly to French territories hit by Hurricane Irma.
The latest advisory from the US National Hurricane Center confirms Irma is passing north of the Bahamas’ Great Inagua island, with wind speeds now of 160mph (260kph) – down from its 185mph peak but still a category five hurricane.
Hurricane warnings remain in effect for:
Irma is now into the Bahamas archipelago, passing just north of Great Inagua island at the southernmost tip.
Meanwhile – in unconnected news – an earthquake of magnitude 8 has struck off the southern coast of Mexico, prompting a series of possible tsunami warnings. Read more here:
Related: Major earthquake off Mexico coast sparks warning of possible tsunami
The ongoing effects of Irma – as well as lack of power and communications – are hampering reports from the islands it has already passed over.
Press Association has this from the British Virgin Islands:
Houses were reduced to foundations following the devastating storm.
Images posted on social media showed entire structures razed to the ground, with debris scattered across the streets.
The destruction caused by Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands has been devastating. The destination has lost entire structures and many homes are without roofs, or have been diminished to merely foundations.”
She added communication between the islands has been difficult as mobile phone towers had come down – meaning it was tricky to gauge the full extent of the damage.
The eye of the storm is moving on to the southern Bahamas. The US National Hurricane Center warned that storm surges could lift water levels in south-eastern and central Bahamas by 15-20ft (4.5-6m) above normal levels.
Bahamas prime minister Hubert Minnis said his government had evacuated people from six islands in the south to the capital, Nassau, in the largest storm evacuation in the country’s history. Airports have been closed.
Guylee Simmonds, a volunteer with British charity Hope Health Action, is in Haiti, in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, which on Thursday night bore the brunt of Irma’s outer fringes, and where at least two people have been reported injured.
He says the outcome has been better than most people feared, a relief for a country that has “had some pretty bad luck”:
It’s rained for most of the last 12 hours, but it does look like we haven’t sustained a particularly major hit.
There have been some fairly high wind speeds and heavy rain, but it has not reached the severity we had been expecting. But there’s going to be ongoing bad weather for a couple of days I expect, and in Haiti a lot of the poorest communities here are at high risk of flooding.
We were operating with skeleton staff. We reduced our outpatient care in the leadup to the storm, but our inpatient care remained. We were already close to capacity.
I expect outpatient care won’t resume until the following day as we assess any damage done. I expect people with worse constructed homes will have sustained more damage.
Irma was the first time the Turks and Caicos islands had experienced a category 5 hurricane.
Ahead of its arrival, Virginia Clerveaux, director of disaster management and emergencies for the island group, warned:
We are expecting inundation from both rainfall as well as storm surge. And we may not be able to come rescue [people] in a timely manner.
Among the properties forced to evacuate in Florida is President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the Miami Herald reports:
President Donald Trump’s seaside Mar-a-Lago resort has been ordered to evacuate because of Hurricane Irma, along with the barrier islands and low-lying areas of Palm Beach County.
Trump has returned repeatedly to the private club – which he bought in 1985 – to relax and conduct state business since becoming president.
Irma is about to make first contact with the Bahamas – specifically, Little Inagua (fortunately uninhabited) at the southernmost tip of the archipelago:
Little Inagua Island is about be engulfed by #Irma - the first Category 5 landfalling hurricane in the Bahamas since Andrew (1992). pic.twitter.com/YUF5URJw8H
Florida is locking down, Associated Press reports:
Nasa secured Kennedy Space Center and SpaceX launched an unmanned rocket for an experimental flight. Kennedy closed its doors to all nonessential staff and a crew of about 120 people will ride out the storm on site.
Most of the critical buildings at Kennedy are designed to withstand gusts of up to 135mph (220kph). Irma’s wind could exceed that if it reaches Cape Canaveral.
Hurricane Jose is making its way towards Caribbean islands already battered by Irma.
The US National Hurricane Center says Jose – a category 3 hurricane – “is expected to be near the northern Leeward Islands on Saturday”.
The Miami weather service has warned people in south Florida to make urgent plans to seek safety, saying:
This is a potentially deadly situation!
Residents and visitors must now implement emergency safety plans.
The US National Hurricane Center says the following locations are now subject to official hurricane warnings:
Flags are up at Key West! #Irma#HurricaneWarningpic.twitter.com/u4w7fVeEh2
Hurricane Irma breaks yet another record – now the longest lasting Atlantic storm this year:
#Irma is now the longest-lived Atlantic named storm of the 2017 season to date - surpassing Harvey. pic.twitter.com/oAQhJJzalx
Irma is currently over the Turks and Caicos Islands, moving westwards towards the south-eastern Bahamas throughout Thursday night.
The hurricane will then track between the Bahamas and northern Cuba before hitting southern Florida.
This latest forecast says “severe hurricane conditions” are now expected to begin to hit the Florida peninsula and Florida Keys late on Saturday.
Storm surges and high winds are expected to hit the southern part of the state.
The advice from the US National Hurricane Center has moved Florida into the official hurricane warning group for the first time.
The areas covered by the warnings cover south Florida and the Florida Keys.
A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.
A storm surge warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours in the indicated locations.
The latest update from the US National Hurricane Center issues upgraded warnings for South Florida and the Florida Keys:
“We had cars flying over our head, we had 40ft containers flying left and right,” said Knacyntar Nedd, chairwoman of the Barbuda council. “People were literally tying themselves to roofs with ropes to hold them down.”
“What we experienced is like something you see in a horror movie, not something you expect to actually happen in reality,” Nedd told the local ABS television.
Related: 'It was like something you see in a horror movie': Irma survivors tell of devastation
As well as winds of 185mph (295kph), Irma also dumped 11 inches (28cm) of rain on parts of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as it passed:
#Irma caused up to 275 mm (11 in) of rain across parts of the #VirginIslands and #PuertoRico, in the last 35 hrs according to radar est. pic.twitter.com/GqCs9xFSb8
Cuba is evacuating tourists as Irma approaches, Reuters reports:
Cuba started evacuating some of the 51,000 tourists visiting the island, particularly 36,000 people at resorts on the picturesque northern coast.
That included all Canadian tourists, who Cuban tourism minister Manuel Marrero estimated made up 60% of foreign visitors in the country’s keys.
Haiti has felt the edges of Hurricane Irma as it careered away from the Dominican Republic towards the Turks and Caicos Islands, and reports so far suggest it has been spared the worst effects of the category 5.
But the north of Haiti, including the port city of Cap-Haïtien, have experienced heavy rainfall and strong winds from Irma’s outer fringes as it passed. There are reports of buildings damaged and trees felled.
Hurricane Irma: Bridge connecting Dominican Republic with Haiti collapses during Masacre river increased flow. pic.twitter.com/lBt5tzhWoE
Captain Stephen Russell, of the Bahamas national emergency management agency, has told CNN of the approaching hurricane:
We are prepared as best as we can be.
We are urging all persons throughout the Bahamas – whether they are visitors, residents, in the Bahamas at this time – to find a way to safeguard themselves from the impact of Hurricane Irma …
Find a safe place, a safe shelter.
The destructive force of a 25ft surge: that is our greatest concern. It can really cause catastrophic results
Turks and Caicos is currently suffering Irma’s attack.
Virginia Clerveaux, director of the Turks and Caicos department of disaster management and emergencies, told the BBC that people had been asked to find safe shelter:
We are now trying to remind them that this is a category five, and in the history of the Turks and Caicos islands this is the largest storm we have ever been impacted or threatened by.
Irma continues its sobering record-breaking streak: with sustained wind speeds of 185mph (295kph) for 33 hours, it is the longest storm of such intensity since satellite monitoring began in the 1970s.
Wind speeds have now dipped slightly to 175mph over the Turks and Caicos Islands, still a category 5 hurricane.
The five living former US presidents – Barack Obama, the two George Bushes, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter – have launched a fundraising drive, the One America appeal.
Originally conceived to help victims of Hurricane Harvey, the appeal will now be expanded to aid Americans affected by Hurricane Irma, the donations website says.
Americans always answer the call. https://t.co/SV1jixOExupic.twitter.com/ktEvL6s89d
Irma remains a category five hurricane with wind speeds of 175mph (280kph) – slightly down from its peak of 185mph – as it batters the Turks and Caicos Islands.
This image shows the eye of Irma as it passes right over the islands:
The Turks and Caicos Islands are currently being hit by some of the strongest winds in Hurricane #Irma. https://t.co/u2rb8Z4m4mpic.twitter.com/QjAaR9h95W
Watch the centre of Super-Category 5 #H_Irma pass over #Anguilla, #StMartin& the #BritishAndUSVirginIslands enroute to the #TurksAndCaicospic.twitter.com/Cy1CD53x2h
Florida governor Rick Scott has ordered all state offices, schools, colleges and universities to close from Friday until at least Monday “to ensure we have every space available for sheltering and staging”.
Scott added:
Every family must be prepared to evacuate.
A voluntary evacuation began on Thursday from the tiny island of Barbuda – where upwards of 90% of homes were destroyed – to its larger sister island of Antigua.
Barbuda also faces the prospect of Hurricane Jose, currently a category 3 storm, striking this weekend.
25 babies will be coming in from Barbuda on the 10pm boat. All items such as formula, bottles, diapers, blankets, wipes will be needed.
Please bring these items to multi-purpose center, St John’s, Antigua.
Concerning news from Florida, via Associated Press:
As Hurricane Irma threatens to pound Miami with winds of mind-boggling power, a heavyweight hazard looms over the city’s skyline: two dozen enormous construction cranes.
Because those cranes were not designed to withstand a storm of Irma’s ferocity, city officials are telling people who live in the shadows of the giant devices to leave.
A government spokesman has said four people are now known to have been killed by Hurricane Irma in the US Virgin Islands, taking the total confirmed across the Caribbean so far to at least 13.
USVI spokesman Lonnie Soury said the death toll could rise:
We are not sanguine that there aren’t more.
John Freeman, the governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, has been speaking to CNN as Hurricane Irma reaches the islands. Freeman says the message to people there is:
Hunker down, stay where you are … Nobody can get to you either – people are, for a little while, on their own.
Water production goes down, of course, with the electricity. On Grand Turk, the water went down quite early because the electricity went down quite early.
The US National Hurricane Center has issued an update on Irma’s progress. Here are the key points:
Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló has also declared a disaster in the tiny islands of Culebra and Vieques, to Puerto Rico’s east, which were hard-hit by the storm.
So far there has been little information from the islands about the extent of the damage there.
Even as Irma continues to wreak havoc across the Caribbean, attention turns to recovery for those islands already hit.
Many affected islands have links with the UK, France, US and the Netherlands, and those countries have mobilised – some less speedily than others– to engage in relief efforts.
It’s a tragedy. We’ll need to rebuild both islands. Most of the schools have been destroyed.
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.
Irma now has Haiti in its sights. Authorities there have admitted they are ill-prepared for the category five onslaught, with the risks of flash flooding and landslides high.
Heavy rain is already pummelling the north coast and several areas have already lost power.
And so it begins, #HurricaineIrmapic.twitter.com/jCjXZLRxUy
This is Claire Phipps picking up the live blog.
In the British Virgin Islands, governor Gus Jaspert has declared a state of emergency in the wake of Irma – and with Hurricane Jose threatening to reach them this weekend.
I would like to appeal to you to remain calm and to reassure we are doing all we can to assist you.
Please, could any public service organisation or anyone with a truck that could offer assistance and have not made contact with the [national emergency operations centre], do so now.
The governor of Puerto Rico is meeting with residents and surveying the damage, writing on Twitter: “our people of Culbera and their city government can count on the support and attention of the central government for their recovery.”
Nuestra gente de #Culebra y el Gobierno Municipal cuenta el respaldo y la atención del Gobierno Central para la recuperación. pic.twitter.com/x4TIKOGcsg
[FOTOS] Situación hoy en #Nagua#RepDom por el #HuracanIrma#Irma#HurricaneIrma@PNUDLAC@pnudpic.twitter.com/unJJhVBuDt
Northbound routes out of Florida have become jammed with traffic, as more than half a million people flee southern evacuation zones of the state and airports prepare for their final flights before closing on Friday. Hundreds of thousands more were ordered to evacuate coastal areas of Georgia, as the state’s governor prepared for worst-case scenarios.
The AP reports from I-95 and I-75, the largest roads leading north out of Florida and Georgia.
Mari and Neal Michaud loaded their two children and dog into their small sport-utility vehicle and left their home near Cocoa Beach about 10am, bound for an impromptu vacation in Washington, D.C. Using a phone app and calls to search for fuel along the way, they finally arrived at a convenience store that had gasoline nearly five hours later.
The 60-mile trip up Interstate 95 should have taken an hour, said Mari Michaud.
NEW: @ABC now estimates 1.2M Florida residents are under a mandatory evacuation ahead of Hurricane #Irma.
Noel Marsden said he, his girlfriend, her son and their dog left Pembroke Pines north of Miami with plans to ride out Irma in Savannah, only to find the city was also shutting down because of Irma. Marsden isn’t sure where they’ll all end up.
“I’ve got a buddy in Atlanta and a buddy in Charlotte. We’ll wind up one of those two places because there are not hotels, I can tell you that,” he said.
The last time Georgia was struck by a hurricane of force Category 3 or higher happened in 1898. The last Category 5 storm to hit Florida was Andrew in 1992. Its winds topped 165 mph (265 kph), killing 65 people and inflicting $26 billion in damage. It was at the time the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.
The Associated Press reports that three people have died in the US Virgin Islands, according to American officials there.
Governor spokesman Samuel Topp said Thursday that the deaths occurred in the St. Thomas and St. Johns district. Officials say crews are clearing many roads that remain inaccessible. The category storm destroyed homes, schools and roads as it roared through the northeast Caribbean this week and heads toward Florida.
More than 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate from parts of Palm Beach County, officials said, effective Friday morning at 10am local time.
The areas include barrier islands, areas near Jupiter, mobile homes, and low coastal areas and neighborhoods and towns along the intracostal waterways running up and down the coast. The storm surge, in particular, will be unusually large and dangerous.
BREAKING: 261,000 Palm Beach County residents either urged or ordered to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irma https://t.co/oSECYmrkILpic.twitter.com/34mQ9WsJwr
American forecasters have just updated their projections for Irma with an ominous tack west, toward Miami-Dade County – the most populous county in Florida – and a path through the center of the state.
HERE is the 5pm track-- suggests #Irma could go right over Orlando and more inland areas. @TTerryWFTV with a calm, steady voice on #WFTV. pic.twitter.com/Kua7aa1yYW
The National Weather Service has upgrade hurricane Jose, currently east of the Caribbean and heading toward the same islands just struck by Irma, to a category three storm, with additional growth possible in the next 24 to 36 hours.
Hurricane watches are in effect for Antigua and Barbuda, and tropical storm watches for Anguilla, Montserrat, St Kitts, and Nevis – islands that all either suffered brutal storms or narrowly avoided devastation from Irma.
JUST IN: Jose strengthens to major Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds pic.twitter.com/2NAbmCf3oy
As recovery workers reach St Maarten, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico in the wake of Irma, so do photographers, conveying the scope of the storm.
Though a northward swerve appears increasingly unlikely for hurricane Irma before landfall on Florida, Georgia governor Nathan Deal has ordered mandatory evacuations from coastal areas of his state.
Like his colleagues in Florida, Deal appears to be taking no chances with Irma’s general northern trajectory, ordering people to prepare and leave the area sooner rather than later. The state’s emergency services have provided maps and more detail about the areas affected by the order.
Per @GovernorDeal: all areas E of I-95, all of Chatham Co. & some areas W of I-95 are under a MANDATORY evacuation. See maps for more info pic.twitter.com/8VJQ588T76
Time is running out for flights departing from southern Florida. Fort Lauderdale airport, which is with Miami International one of the major hubs of south Florida, will close its doors on Friday evening.
Miami International has not yet said when its last flight will depart before the storm, but warned people that it should not be considered a haven from the hurricane. “The airport is not a designated shelter during a storm, and operational needs at MIA may require occupants to be evacuated to nearby shelters. Resources like food and water may also not be readily available in the airport during or after the storm.”
Eric Blake, a National Hurricane Center scientist, has described Irma in stark, dire terms, urging people to listen to emergency managers and do everything possible to protect themselves and loved ones.
“This hurricane is as serious as any I have seen. No hype, just the hard facts. Take every life saving precaution you can,” Blake tweeted. “I have little doubt #Irma will go down as one of the most infamous in Atlantic hurricane history.”
#Irma has me sick to my stomach. Need to be very lucky for it to miss Florida now. Prepare & follow advice of your local emergency manager. pic.twitter.com/Pk0QJTVhaB
In Samana, in the eastern Dominican Republic, the United Nations Development Programme is among the international effort to send experts to help recovery.
Alejandro Adames, a photographer with the organization, has sent along photos of some of the destruction: structures sliding into the sea, a road with a cavernous space eroded beneath it, downed wires and trees. Irma is moving north of Hispanolia, on course between the island and the British territories of Turks and Caicos, heading toward the southern Bahamas.
Florida governor Rick Scott has stressed time and again the frustrating, dangerous unpredictability of hurricanes, noting that a sudden swerve remains entirely possible and could either spare the state or exacerbate a collision. The Washington Post has compiled a list of some possible courses – with many caveats – excerpted here:
Florida governor Rick Scott has again urged people up and down his state to prepare for worst case scenarios of the hurricane.
He notes that Floridians can go to JaxReady.com for more information, or the state’s Department of Emergency Management. If people are in need of hotels, he says Expedia is offering Florida-specific service, that JetBlue has capped flights out of Florida at $99, and that the app GasBuddy can help guide residents toward fuel. He again urges people to know their evacuation zone, and to act immediately if they are in a mandatory area.
Florida senator Marco Rubio has urged residents to act now, in the final hours before Irma makes landfall on the American mainland, most likely on the southern coast of his state. Governor Rick Scott is giving an afternoon press conference with the latest information on preparations, which we’ll have updates from shortly.
We have less than 16 hours of safe daylight to finish our prep. My shutters going up right now, you should too. #Sayfie 2/3
Carlos Gimenez, the mayor of Miami-Dade, has expanded evacuation orders to more coastal and increasingly inland regions.
The county had already ordered evacuations in Miami Beach and other barrier islands (Zone A and parts of Zone B); Gimenez has now ordered evacuations for Miami’s main financial and downtown condo districts (the rest of Zone B) and inland districts like South Miami and Coral Gables (Zone C). The orders affect more than 500,000 people.
Evacuation order in effect for Zones A, B and parts of C. Visit https://t.co/dqaqdgaXtF for additional information. pic.twitter.com/pL7B12OKuA
As hurricane Irma barrels through the Caribbean on its course toward the mainland United States, people who have survived its passage or are still preparing for it have captured stunning, surreal images of the storm: boats stacked atop each other in the Virgin Islands, swelling turbid floods in Puerto Rico, Mustangs driving off to homemade barricades in Florida.
En el fuerte del pueblo de Arecibo. @adamonzon@DeborahWAPApic.twitter.com/Qo5wCsgiuT
This is so Miami. Bright yellow mustang on causeway. Plywood on roof. Holding it with one hand, driving with the other #HurricaineIrmapic.twitter.com/kcjBHgyBNu
Donald Trump has declared a disaster for the US Virgin Islands, according to Thomas Bossert, a national security adviser to the president, and the UK has sent a military task for to its adjacent territories along with millions of pounds
@POTUS declares Major Disaster in #USVI@GovernorMapp& declares Emergency in #SC@henrymcmaster#HurricaneIrma Listen to local officials.
The increased resources, and military hardware, came after an overnight assessment sent to the cabinet emergency committee Cobra concluded the devastation on the British overseas territories of Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands was worse than feared. Aid was increased from a planned £12m to £32m after Cobra met.
At least one person has been confirmed dead in Anguilla and there are concerns that another British overseas territory – the low-lying Turks and Caicos Islands – is in the line of the storm and likely to be battered. Evacuations have begun and tropical-force rains were expected to begin on Thursday afternoon local time.
Related: UK releases £32m in Hurricane Irma aid after complaints over initial response
Philip Levine, the mayor of Miami Beach, has told CNN that Irma is “a nuclear hurricane” and that all residents and visitors to the area should leave.
“This is a very serious, incredibly powerful storm. I call it a nuclear hurricane,” Levine said. “I recommend and strongly urge all our residents and visitors to leave Miami Beach. I’m aggressively going out there telling everyone get out of Miami Beach.”
Little has changed with Irma’s trajectory with the 2pm eastern update, meaning huge consequences for millions of people in Florida are dependent on tiny, last minute changes in the course of the hurricane, notes meteorologist Ryan Maue.
Most recent GFS model traces well @NHC_Atlantic forecast track. Huge Hurricane #Irma effects dependent upon only 25-50 miles deviation pic.twitter.com/HJqPJ33a1g
Hurricane Irma has left Puerto Rico with at least three dead and thousands more without power or water, but the island’s residents and government have allowed themselves a sigh of relief that the storm did not move slightly south, wreaking the same devastation as other islands more directly in its path.
Reuters reports from San Juan, where street signs, powerlines, and trees have fallen across the roads and onto buildings.
The storm’s eye did not come ashore in Puerto Rico but roared past with 185mph winds and hammered the coast with 30ft waves.“It was really not as bad as we had feared,” said Omar Alvarez, 53, a real state appraiser. “We had very high winds but we got lucky.”
“It was mostly wind, not water. In Hugo, the water came up to here,” he said, referring to the 1989 hurricane that had flooded his street just three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean.
“The Harvey experience had an effect of people,” lawyer Nereida Melendez, 59, said as she walked along a beach-side road covered in sand and palm leaves. “It just showed them what can happen. It made them take it more seriously.”
“Mostly what has happened here is that there is no electricity and a lot of trees are down,” said Rafael Ojeda, a 49-year-old lawyer. “Let’s see how fast the electricity comes back up.”
The Miami station of the National Weather Station has issued a dire warning for the potential effects of the storm on southern Florida, in particular tornado-force winds and huge storm surges.
The main window of concern for hurricane Irma, impacts is early Saturday morning through Monday. Additional concerns exist for flooding rains, isolated tornadoes, significant beach erosion and surf, coastal flooding, and life-threatening rip currents.
Wind: prepare for life-threatening wind having possible devastating impacts across south Florida. Potential impacts include:
Surge: prepare for life-threatening surge having possible devastating impacts across coastal Collier, mainland Monroe, coastal Miami-Dade counties, including Biscayne Bay.
Donald Trump has said he believes the United States is ready for hurricane Irma, telling reporters, “we think we are as well prepare as we could possibly be.”
Yet he still admitted uncertainty about what will actually happening, as he did on Wednesday, by saying Irma “looks like it could be something that will be not good, believe me, not good.”
French officials have cast doubt on the number of fatalities on the territory of St Martin, saying they have confirmed four deaths but not the eight reported by local officials previously. The AFP reports:
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Thursday that four people were confirmed dead on the Caribbean island of St Martin ravaged by Hurricane Irma.
Local rescue officials and Interior Minister Gerard Collomb had previously said the death toll stood at eight.
On its current course, hurricane Irma is predicted to pass directly over, or quite close to, the British territories of Turk and Caicos on Thursday night, followed by a brush with the southern islands of the Bahamas and Cuba’s northern coast.
On Friday night, the hurricane is expected to land at or pass near the archipelago of the Florida Keys, an area ordered evacuated by the state’s governor, Rick Scott.
Fuel has become such a scarcity in south Florida, and such a priority for governor Rick Scott, that police are escorting tankers and managing gas station service.
Scott said he wanted to avoid the lapses of hurricane Andrew: enough fuel to evacuate, to supply power during the storm, and to speed up the recovery in its aftermath.
How important is gas in South #Florida ahead of #HurricaneIrma?
Tankers are getting escorts by law enforcement. @WPTVpic.twitter.com/6D98e3bA36
Troopers are directing traffic again at the West Palm Beach Service Plaza as drivers rush to get gas @CBS12pic.twitter.com/1Wb9HnHhB6
The National Weather Service branch of the Florida Keys have warned in the most severe terms that everyone should leave the archipelago, saying in a midday advisory that hurricane conditions are possible within the next 48 hours.
From the advisory:
Florida governor Rick Scott has activated 3,000 members of the state national guard, with plans to activate the entire state force – 7,000 people in all – on Friday.
“We are expecting our state to have major impacts from Hurricane Irma and we are taking aggressive actions to make sure Florida is prepared,” Scott said in a statement. “These men and women are putting themselves in harm’s way to save the lives of their fellow Floridians while many of their own families are evacuating. I am proud of their commitment to keeping our families safe.”
UPDATE: We have run out of sandbags at 79 ST & Collins Avenue. If you are still in need, go to 5 ST & Ocean Dr. #HurricaneIrma
Hurricane Irma killed three people as it battered Puerto Rico, with a 79-year-old woman, a younger woman, and a man among the fatalities.
In a statement, governor Ricardo Rossello said that the elderly woman, who needed assistance moving, died after a fall en route to a shelter. A younger woman died in Camuy, on the north-west coast of the island, from electrocution in her home, and a man died from a traffic accident in Canóvanas, in the north-east.
For the first time in seven years, there are currently three active hurricanes in the Atlantic:
11:00 AM AST Advisory/Advertencia #9: Hurricane/Huracán José. #prwx#usviwxpic.twitter.com/Fi075N8vO4
More than a million people in Puerto Rico still lack power, the AP reports, accounting for about 70% of the territory’s Electric Power Authority. There are about 3.4 million people on the island.
Puerto Rican governor Ricardo Rossello said Thursday that crews are investigating and until they know the extent of the damage, “it will be difficult to estimate how long the power outage will last.”
Rossello added that ports on the island are still closed, and it’s unclear when commercial flights will resume. Schools and government offices are scheduled to reopen on Monday.
The major counties of south Florida – Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Colliers – have been declared under a hurricane watch by state officials. Irma is currently maintaining winds of about 175mph, well above the 74mph minimum for hurricane winds, and officials fear five to 10ft storm surges for southern coastal parts of the peninsula.
11 AM Thursday #Irma update. Winds down to 175 mph. Still headed WNW at 16 mph. Forecast remains for FL impacts Sunday. #WESHwxpic.twitter.com/ajNQaIDvGD
Monroe County officials say @FLGovScott gave out wrong number for Florida Emergency Hotline. Correct one is 800-342-3557.
Shipping containers and boats piled up like toys, city blocks leveled, and buildings stripped of whole faces are just a few of the images published online by the Dutch ministry of defense from a helicopter flyby.
The extent of damage, injuries, and possible deaths remains unknown from Dutch St Maarten; at least eight people were killed on the French side of the territory.
The son of British billionaire Richard Branson, Sam, has posted several videos and photographs of the British Virgin Islands on his Instagram page. The images show buildings with their roofs torn from their walls, rebar and debris everywhere, and boats tossed into heaps.
In a text post, Branson said there remains no power in Virgin Gorda, that some bays are flooded, 80% of Cane Garden Bay “destroyed” on the island of Tortola, and that winds and debris remain dangerous.
Airports in the Bahamas are closing as Hurricane Irma nears the islands, the AP reports, while evacuations continue from southern islands closest to the storm’s projected path.
The government says the international airport in Nassau will close late Thursday and it urges people who plan to leave the island chain east of Florida to check with airlines for space.
Grand Bahama’s airport and the less-populated island throughout the chain will close by noon Friday.
The south Florida counties currently in Irma’s projected course have each provided services for shelters, evacuation, and supply information.
“If you’re in an evacuation area, do not wait to get out,” Scott says. “We can’t save you after the storm starts.”
The governor tells families they should “be aggressive” in steps to protect their families. “This is not a storm you can sit and wait through.”
At my direction, @MyFDOT has waived all tolls across Florida roadways. This should help families evacuate quickly and safely.
Florida governor Rick Scott has delivered a press conference to update residents about what the state is doing and what Floridians can do to protect themselves.
Miami Dade county, the most populated in the state, should expect “deadly storm surge and life threatening winds”, Scott says. “We can expect this along the entire east coast,” he continues, with landfall in the Florida Keys as early as Friday night.
We can expect additional evacuations as this storm continues to near our state.
In south Florida, gas stations have run out of fuel, stores of water, and hardware stores of plywood. Authorities are scrambling to dole out sandbags and other supplies to shore up homes, while people in coastal stretches are fleeing inland or north. Governor Rick Scott is due to give a press conference within minutes.
In Broward, one sky ahead, another behind pic.twitter.com/5QSERbvnva
Hello and welcome to Thursday’s coverage of Hurricane Irma. Here’s a round-up of the latest news:
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