Reading News 4U: Hurricane Irma causes at least 3 deaths in Caribbean as Florida, Georgia, SC brace for storm
Wednesday, September 06, 2017
VietPress USA (Sept. 6th, 2017): Hurricane Irma is lashing the Caribbean with stronger wind than Harvey. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina will face to at least 185 mph storm. Please read this urgent news on Yahoo News at: https://www.yahoo.com/gma/hurricane-irma-takes-aim-florida-storm-makes-first-095907311--abc-news-topstories.html
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Hurricane Irma causes at least 3 deaths in Caribbean as Florida, Georgia, SC brace for storm
Hurricane Irma lashed the Caribbean today, causing at least three deaths, while in the U.S., Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are facing states of emergency as residents brace for the monster storm.
The storm -- called "extremely dangerous" by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) -- currently has sustained winds of 185 mph and even higher gusts.
The storm's impact on the Caribbean islands
On Wednesday afternoon, Irma was battering the Caribbean, destroying about 90 percent of the structures and vehicles on Barbuda, officials said.
In St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, at least two people died and at least two others were seriously wounded, according to a spokesperson for France’s ministry for its overseas territories.
At least one person died in Barbuda, where there is widespread damage, said Midcie Francis, a spokeswoman for Antigua & Barbuda’s National Office of Disaster Services.
Aerial footage from Barbuda showed widespread devastation on the island.
Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, described the damage on Barbuda as "unprecedented" and called the island "barely habitable."
Irma, which is approximately 450 miles wide, has had sustained winds of at least 180 mph for a longer period of time than any other Atlantic storm on record.
As of 11 p.m. ET, Irma was about 85 miles north-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico and moving west-northwest at about 16 mph. The hurricane is forecast to move north of U.S. territory this evening, unleashing strong winds and heavy rain.
The Puerto Rican Electrical Energy Authority said about 950,000 customers were without power as of 9 p.m. ET Wednesday.
The highest recorded wind gust in San Juan was 63 mph, but persistent heavy rain from Irma is expected to continue for hours and flash flood warnings have been issued across northeastern Puerto Rico, including San Juan. Flash flooding was occurring in Puerto Rico as of 8 p.m.
Turks and Caicos is the next major area of concern, with potentially catastrophic impacts Thursday evening.
Hurricane warnings have been issued for much of the central Bahamas, while a hurricane watch has been issued for much of the northwestern Bahamas.
Tropical storm warnings have been issued for parts of Cuba, including Guantanamo, Holguin, and Las Tunas provinces. The hurricane warning for Saint Martin has been discontinued.
The track of Hurricane Irma
The storm will gradually begin to weaken as it crosses through the Caribbean, but it will still remain a powerful Category 5 storm through Friday, forecasters predict.
Irma's projected path goes through the Bahamas Friday into Saturday morning and the storm is expected to curve north toward Florida by late Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday morning, Irma is expected to approach just south of Miami as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph. Forecasts show Irma weakening to a Category 3 hurricane near Daytona Beach on Monday morning as it creeps up the east coast.
The storm is expected to then move up the Florida coast as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 125 mph.
Georgia and South Carolina are in the northern edge of the forecast cone as well.
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