Hurricane Irma weakened slightly on Saturday as it battered Cuba’s northern coast while millions of Florida residents were told to evacuate after the storm killed 21 people in the eastern Caribbean and left devastation in its wake.
Downgraded as a Category 4 storm, Irma moved along the Camaguey Archipelago with 155 mph (250 kmph) winds early on Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. It has shifted between the Category 4 and Category 5 classification, which is used for the most powerful storms.
Irma, one of the fiercest Atlantic storms in a century, was expected to hit Florida early on Sunday, causing major damage to the fourth-largest U.S. State by population. The scenes of destruction along Cuba’s north central coast were similar to those seen in other Caribbean islands over the last week as Irma barrelled in for a direct hit at Ciego de Avila province around midnight.
Meteorologists warned that by early Saturday far greater devastation was sure to be caused as Irma moved westward through Sancti Spiritus and Villa Clara Provinces where it is forecast to turn north toward Florida.
Emergency measures
With the storm barrelling toward the United States, officials in Florida ordered an unprecedented evacuation, racing to overcome clogged highways, gasoline shortages and move elderly residents to safety. “We are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now. This is a catastrophic storm like our State has never seen,” Governor Rick Scott told reporters.
A total of 5.6 million people, or 25% of the State’s
population, were ordered to evacuate Florida, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The United States has been hit by only three Category 5 storms since 1851, and Irma is far larger than the last one in 1992, Hurricane Andrew, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
President Donald Trump said in a videotaped statement that Irma was “a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential” and called on people to heed recommendations from government officials. In Palm Beach, Mr. Trump’s waterfront Mar-a-Lago estate was ordered evacuated.
