Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, is battering the northern Virgin Islands and hurtling toward Puerto Rico after smashing a string of small northern Caribbean islands, where at least three people were killed.
According to CNN Weather, the storm is one of three hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, the first time since 2010 that three active hurricanes have been in the Atlantic.
Irma's core slammed the tiny island of Barbuda before moving over St. Martin and Anguilla and parts of the British Virgin Islands. Its maximum sustained winds of 298km/hr were well above the 257km/h threshold of a Category 5 storm.
The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne said the extent of the destruction on Barbuda is unprecedented and he estimated the damage on Barbuda, where he says 1,800 people live, to be about $150 million.
Director of a meteorological office in Antigua and Barbuda says that Barbuda was so badly damaged that there is no communication from the island.
Forecasters say that Irma's powerful center will pass just north of Puerto Rico, a US territory of about 3.4 million people tonight, bringing heavy rain and dangerous coastal storm surges.
Source: CNN
