Hurricane Irma Slams into The Northern Caribbean Islands Causing Catastrophic Damage and at Least Two Deaths

InstantWeather

Hurricane Irma has been churning in the Atlantic Ocean for more than five days now, but the storm just made its first landfall last night. Shortly before hitting land, Irma quickly gained strength as a Category 5 storm, bringing close to 300km/h (180mph) sustained winds, and gusts up to 350km/h (215mph). This made Irma the strongest storm in history at landfall in the Atlantic Ocean - The winds were so strong that its very likely they blew away the measuring instruments.

The first island to take a direct hit was Barbuda, last night; at one point, Irmas eye covered the entire island. Early reports out of the area indicate that the area of impact is completely destroyed and that not many structures survived the brutal storm.

As a comparison for those in our area, the sustained winds within this storm are similar to an EF4 tornado or EF5 tornado with the wind gusts.

Other islands that have been affected include Antigua, Anguilla, Saint Martin, Puerto Rico, British and US Virgin Islands. The extent of damage depends on location as some islands took a direct hit and others were slightly more indirect.

In Saint Martin, at least two people have tragically lost their life as a result of Hurricane Irma - Pictures coming out of that area are absolutely horrifying; almost nothing was left untouched by the relentless storm.

Unfortunately, Irma is expected to continue on a path of destruction while it moves on. Counties like Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and The Bahamas are expected to be affected in the coming days. Its possible that Irma could even get stronger as the storm moves into warmer water.

Right now, theres still some uncertainty in regards to the exact path Irma will take this weekend and early next week, but its likely that one of two things will happen - Florida will either be affected by a direct landfall, or Irma will hug the eastern coastline.

When it comes to a category 4 or 5 storm, neither scenario is particularly good. That said, the latter is preferable since a the full impact of a landfall would result in a lot more damage.

Evacuations have already begun in Southern Florida, including areas like Key West and Miami.

Well continue following this storm in the coming days and keep you informed on any significant developments..