The island of Barbuda is almost non-existant after it crossed hurricane Irma’s path
- The prime minister of Barbuda and Antigua confirmed that over 90% of the structures on the island are destroyed after 185 mph hurricane battered the island
- The island was a home of 1,700 people and it’s now uninhabitable
- For now, only one person has been confirmed dead
The islands of Antigua and Barts have also taken damage, althought lesser in comparison to Barbuda. The death toll is low, only two confirmed deaths for now. It is expected that the death and injured toll will rise after the rescue and recovery works begin. There are reports of destroyed buildings and roofs. By report of the senator of St. Barts island “… it is apocalyptic, a lot of damage…”
The islands of St. Barts and Antigua are both in the way of the upcoming hurricane Jose, which is barreling towards the U.S. following Irma’s path.
Is Irma going to hit Florida?
The hurricane is surely making its way towards the U.S. coast and it was expected to hit over this weekend. Miami is feeling the prelude to the gigantic storm as we speak. Reports of violent winds and rains in Florida have reached us, typical for a Category 3 storm. People are to evacuate immediately before the worst of the storm hits the shores.
At the moment, Irma’s turning from Cuba’s norther coast to U.S. The maximum sustained winds are 140 mph but expected to increase and turn into a category 4 storm to reach Florida.
Meteorologist Brian James of NBC 5 has reported that Irma is now the size of Texas, a whooping 785 miles wide. He has compared the storm to the size of the U.S. states to gives us an impression of how big of a monster the storm is in his tweet.
The size of the monstrous storm compared to U.S. mainland
Compared to European countries, Irma would cover U.K and Ireland together, or France alone. It is a terrible beast and we can only hope that the people of Florida will evacuate or prepare accordingly for the storm to come.