Hurricane Irma builds to Category 5 storm on path to Caribbean

As the Caribbean islands brace for landfall, officials warn that the effects of Hurricane Irma could be felt in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

|
NOAA/AP
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows hurricane Irma nearing the eastern Caribbean on Sept. 4, 2017.

Hurricane Irma strengthened into a dangerous Category 5 storm Tuesday as it roared toward the northeast Caribbean on a path that could take it to the United States.

The US National Hurricane Center said Irma had sustained winds of 175 miles per hour and was centered about 270 miles east of Antigua. It was moving west at 14 mph.

The center said there was a growing possibility that the storm's effects could be felt in Florida later this week and over the weekend, though it was still too early to be sure of its future track: "Everyone in hurricane-prone areas should ensure that they have their hurricane plan in place."

Irma's center was expected to move near or over the northern Leeward Islands late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the hurricane center said. The eye was then expected to pass about 50 miles from Puerto Rico late Wednesday.

Authorities warned that the storm could dump up to 10 inches of rain, cause landslides and flash floods, and generate waves of up to 23 feet. Government officials began evacuations and urged people to finalize all preparations as shelves emptied out across islands including Puerto Rico.

"The decisions that we make in the next couple of hours can make the difference between life and death," Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said. "This is an extremely dangerous storm."

Residents on the US East Coast were urged to monitor the storm's progress in case it should turn northward toward Florida, Georgia, or the Carolinas.

"This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast. It also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of [hurricane] Harvey," Evan Myers, chief operating officer of AccuWeather, said in a statement.

In the Caribbean, hurricane warnings were issued for 12 island groups, including the British Virgin Islands, where the governor urged people to evacuate the tiny island of Anegada if they could ahead of the storm.

Vivian Wheatley, proprietor of the Anegada Reef Hotel, planned to stay behind. She said she would stay in one of the hotel rooms and take advantage of the generator since there were no guests.

"We know it's a very powerful [storm], and we know it's going to be very close," she said. "Let's hope for the best."

People in the US territory of Puerto Rico braced for blackouts after the director of the island's power company predicted that storm damage could leave some areas without electricity for four to six months. But "some areas will have power [back] in less than a week," Ricardo Ramos told radio station Notiuno 630 AM.

The utility's infrastructure has deteriorated greatly during a decade-long recession, and Puerto Ricans experienced an island-wide outage last year.

Both Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands expected 4 inches to 8 inches of rain and winds of 40-50 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph.

"This is not an opportunity to go outside and try to have fun with a hurricane," US Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp warned. "It's not time to get on a surfboard."

A hurricane warning was posted for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and St. Barts, Puerto Rico, and the US and British Virgin islands. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Guadeloupe and Dominica.

Meanwhile in Florida, residents took advantage of the Labor Day holiday to empty many store shelves of drinking water and other supplies in advance of the storm. Also Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for the state's 67 counties to give local governments "ample time, resources and flexibility" to prepare.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Hurricane Irma builds to Category 5 storm on path to Caribbean
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2017/0905/Hurricane-Irma-builds-to-Category-5-storm-on-path-to-Caribbean
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe