Hurricane Irma: Pictures Show Devastation Wrought on Caribbean by Strongest Storm in Atlantic History
Buildings collapse and cars swept away as storm tears through region
The Independent UK
Debris lies in a flooded street in Saint Martin @la1ere...
The first pictures have emerged of the damage wrought by Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean. France said the storm had caused major damage across a number of islands in the region and had destroyed the four "most solid" buildings on Saint Martin.
Roads became torrents of water and some images showed cars being swept away.
Hurricane Irma – in Pictures
Floodwater sweeps away debris in Philipsburg, Saint Martin (Météo Express)
On Anguilla, one tour operator said Irma had scored a "direct hit".
The hurricane is roaring along a path pointing to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba. Forecasters think it could hit the US state of Florida over the weekend.
A torrent runs along a street in Saint Martin (@la1ere)
The eye of the storm passed over Barbuda at about 1.47am, the US National Weather Service said.
Heavy rain and howling winds raked the neighbouring island of Antigua, sending debris flying as people huddled in their homes or government shelters.
Officials warned people to seek protection from Irma's "onslaught" in a statement that closed with "May God protect us all".
The most dangerous winds, usually nearest to the eye, were forecast to pass near the northern Virgin Islands and near or just north of Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
Hurricane Irma has torn off roofs and knocked out all electricity on the French islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy in the Caribbean.
France has requisitioned planes and sent in emergency food and water rations.
The scene in Saint Martin after the storm passed (Picture: Twitter/ RCI Guadeloupe)...
The regional authority for Guadeloupe and neighbouring islands said that the fire station in Saint Barthelemy is under 3ft of water and no rescue vehicles can move.
It said the government headquarters in Saint Martin have been partially destroyed and the island is in a total blackout.
Electricity is also partially down on the larger island of Guadeloupe, where the threat receded despite danger of heavy flooding.
Hurricane Irma is roaring along a path pointing to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly heading for Florida over the weekend.
The eye of the storm passed over Barbuda at around 1.47am, the US National Weather Service said.
Heavy rain and howling winds raked the neighbouring island of Antigua, sending debris flying as people huddled in their homes or government shelters.
The northern Leeward Islands were expected to see normal tide levels rise by as much as 11ft while the Turks and Caicos Islands and south-eastern Bahamas could see a surge of 20ft and higher waves later in the week, forecasters said.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said his government was evacuating six islands in the south because authorities would not be able to help anyone caught in the ‘potentially catastrophic’ wind, flooding and storm surge. People there would be flown to Nassau in what he called the largest storm evacuation in the country’s history.
‘The price you may pay for not evacuating is your life or serious physical harm,’ Mr Minnis said.
The US National Weather Service said Puerto Rico had not seen a hurricane of Irma’s magnitude since Hurricane San Felipe in 1928, which killed a total of 2,748 people in Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and Florida.
‘The dangerousness of this event is like nothing we’ve ever seen,’ Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said. ‘A lot of infrastructure won’t be able to withstand this kind of force.’
The director of the island’s power company has warned that storm damage could leave some areas without electricity for about a week to as long as six months.
The eye of the storm was expected to rip westward on a path taking it a little north of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.
In Florida, people stocked up on drinking water and other supplies.
Damage in one of the buildings in St Martin (Picture: Twitter)
Some of the damage can be seen in St Martin while the sea levels remain high in the background (Picture: Twitter)
Cars were tossed around after the sea ferociously surged inland (Picture: Twitter)
The most dangerous winds, usually nearest to the eye, were forecast to pass near the northern Virgin Islands and near or just north of Puerto Rico on Wednesday.