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Agence France-Presse

Hurricane Irma has pounded the Caribbean, destroying homes and leaving at least 19 people dead.
The hurricane made landfall in Cuba’s Camaguey Archipelago late on Friday as a maximum-strength Category Five storm, and is now bearing down on the US state of Florida, where authorities have ordered 5.6 million people to evacuate.
Though it weakened Saturday to Category 4, it was still packing powerful maximum sustained winds of 250 kilometres an hour as it zeroed in on the Sunshine State.
The International Red Cross says 1.2 million people have already been affected by Irma – a number that could rise to 26 million.
The bill for loss and damage could hit US$120 billion in the United States and Caribbean, according to data modelling firm Enki Research.
Barbuda
Irma hit the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda on Wednesday. The island suffered “absolute devastation,” with up to 30 per cent of properties demolished, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.
One person is known to have died on the island of 1,600 residents, apparently a child whose family was trying to get to safer ground.


St Barts and St Martin
Irma then slammed into the holiday islands of St Barts and St Martin, wielding monster winds and torrential rain.
St Martin is divided between France and the Netherlands. France said 10 people had died, while the Netherlands said the storm killed two on the Dutch side, called Sint Maarten.
Both governments said the damage was enormous and condemned looting.

Virgin Islands
At least four people were killed in the US Virgin Islands
“We lost a significant and a good number of assets ... in terms of fire stations, police stations,” Governor Kenneth Mapp said on Facebook, adding that the region’s main health facility, the Schneider Regional Medical Centre, lost its roof.
In the British Virgin Islands, Governor Gus Jaspert declared a state of emergency and said “there have sadly been reports of casualties and fatalities”
Puerto Rico
At least two people were killed in the US territory of Puerto Rico, and more than half of its three million residents were without power after rivers broke their banks in the centre and north of the island.

Dominican Republic
The storm tore past the Dominican Republic Thursday, bringing torrential rain. Some 20,000 people were evacuated and more than 2,000 homes hit by floods.
Haiti
Irma brought flooding and caused several injuries in Haiti, but passed further north than had been forecast, sparing the impoverished island the worst.
In northwest Haiti, a motorcyclist was missing after trying to cross a flooded river and a number of roads were washed out.
Bahamas
The Bahamas escaped the worst of Irma’s wrath, with no casualties or major infrastructure damages reported Friday.
But reports indicated that there were several downed power lines, toppled trees, debris and roofs damaged.

Cuba
Irma made landfall on the island’s Camaguey Archipelago late Friday. Close to a million people have left their homes to stay with relatives or in shelters.
The Caribbean’s biggest island, Cuba had already evacuated 10,000 foreign tourists from beach resorts and raised its disaster alert level to maximum ahead of Irma’s arrival.
Where next?
Irma is expected to strike the Florida Keys late Saturday and Sunday before moving inland to Georgia and South Carolina, according to the US National Hurricane Centre.
Authorities have ordered 5.6 million to evacuate around a quarter of Florida’s population and many residents have joined a mass exodus.
The US military is mobilising thousands of troops and deploying several large ships to help with evacuations and humanitarian relief.
US President Donald Trump has already declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Florida, while Georgia ordered the evacuation of the city of Savannah and other coastal areas.

More hurricanes
On Friday, another hurricane, Jose, strengthened to Category 4 as it followed the path of Irma, packing winds of 240kph.
St Barts and St Martin have been placed on alert ahead of its projected passage over the islands.
A third hurricane, Katia, made landfall in eastern Mexico late Friday, just as the country grappled with damage inflicted by its worst earthquake in a century.
It was later downgraded from Category One to a tropical storm, but the US National Hurricane Centre warned it was bringing rains likely to cause “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially in areas of mountainous terrain”.


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Hurricane Irma

What, where, when: the Caribbean islands hit by deadly Hurricane Irma

After raking Caribbean, Irma gains strength, targets Florida

U.S. President Donald Trump is seen in an official White House handout photo with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L), Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Thomas Bossert (2ndR) and Vice President Mike Pence (R) as he participates in an Oval Office briefing tracking the approach of Hurricane Irma toward the coast of Florida, at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2017. Picture taken September 7, 2017. Andrea Hanks/Courtesy of the White House/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY?

A man walks among debris as Hurricane Irma moves off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, in Nagua, Dominican Republic, September 7, 2017. REUTERS/Ricardo Rojas

Aerial view of devastation following Hurricane Irma on Saba Rock, British Virgin Islands September 8, 2017, is seen in this still image taken from social media video. MANDATORY CREDIT Caribbean Buzz Helicopters/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Trees sway in the wind at the main square as Hurricane Irma passes by Remedios, Cuba September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

A man observes the devastation of Hurricane Irma on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten. Photo: EPA

First Irma, now Jose. Tourist island braces for next hurricane

Hurricane Irma and Jose (right) over the Caribbean. Photo: EPA

This handout picture released on the Twitter account of Anna Mazur on September 7, 2017 shows the damaged Casino Royale, on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. Powerful Hurricane Irma cut a swathe of deadly destruction as it roared through the Caribbean, claiming at least nine lives and turning the tropical islands of St Martin and Barbuda into mountains of rubble. / AFP PHOTO / TWITTER AND AFP PHOTO / Anna MAZUR / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / TWITTER / ANNA MAZUR" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

TOPSHOT - A man walks on a street covered in debris after hurricane Irma hurricane passed on the French island of Saint-Martin, near Marigot on September 8, 2017. Officials on the island of Guadeloupe, where French aid efforts are being coordinated, suspended boat crossings to the hardest-hit territories of St Martin and St Barts where 11 people have died. Two days after Hurricane Irma swept over the eastern Caribbean, killing at least 17 people and devastating thousands of homes, some islands braced for a second battering from Hurricane Jose this weekend. / AFP PHOTO / Martin BUREAU

This handout photograph provided courtesy of the Dutch Department of Defense on September 7, 2017 shows Royal Navy personnel patrolling a street following passage of Hurricane Irma on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten. Hurricane Irma, rampaging across the Caribbean, has produced sustained winds at 295 kilometres per hour (183 miles per hour) for more than 33 hours, making it the longest-lasting, top-intensity cyclone ever recorded, France's weather service said on September 7. / AFP PHOTO / DUTCH DEFENSE MINISTRY / GERBEN VAN ES / Netherlands OUT / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / DUTCH DEFENSE MINISTRY/GERBEN VAN ES" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Hurricane Irma: 5.6 million ordered to flee as Florida braces for direct hit

The Miami skyline as Hurricane Irma starts to reach Florida. Photo: AFP

Hurricane Irma is driving toward Florida passing the eastern end of Cuba as Hurricane Katia (L) is also seen in this NASA GOES satellite image taken at 1737 EDT (2137 GMT) on September 8, 2017. Courtesy NASA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

This Thursday, Sept. 8, 2017 photo shows storm damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Virgin Gorda's Leverick Bay in the British Virgin Islands. Irma scraped Cuba's northern coast Friday on a course toward Florida, leaving in its wake a ravaged string of Caribbean resort islands strewn with splintered lumber, corrugated metal and broken concrete. (Caribbean Buzz Helicopters via AP)

Bicyclists ride along the seawall in wind and rain brought on by Hurricane Irma, in Caibarien, Cuba, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Irma battered Cuba on Saturday with deafening winds and unremitting rain, pushing seawater inland and flooding homes before taking aim at Florida. Early Saturday, the hurricane center said the storm was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) northwest of the town of Caibarien. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

Cots are set up at the Twin Lakes Elementary School's storm shelter in preparation for Hurricane Irma's impact Friday, Sept. 8, 2017 in Jacksonville, Fla. (Will Dickey/The Florida Times-Union via AP)