Powerful Hurricane Irma lashes Cuba; Florida braces for hit

Mangalore Today News Network

Havana, Sep 09, 2017 : Hurricane Irma battered Cuba on Saturday with deafening winds and unremitting rain, pushing seawater inland and flooding homes before taking aim at Florida.

 

In its wake, yet another powerful storm category 4 Hurricane Jose threatened islands+ already reeling from Irma’s devastation.

Irma weakened to a Category Three storm Saturday, but US forecasters said it would likely regain power as it heads to Florida.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center downgraded the storm from a Category Four in its 1500 GMT bulletin, but cautioned that Irma is "forecast to restrengthen while heading for south Florida and the keys."

The twin storms had desperate residents seeking shelter across the Caribbean. In St. Martin, with Hurricane Jose expected to bring torrential rains and a swell of five to six meter (yard) waves at sea, no one was getting in and no one was getting out by plane or by boat.

The last airplane flew in to the battered Grande-Case de Saint Martin airport Friday carrying emergency workers to help with reconstruction as well as specialists who aim to re-establish the island’s cut-off water supply and electricity. Remaining mothers and children were flown out Friday in small 40-person capacity planes.

Hurricane Irma provoked a massive evacuation of Florida after leveling islands in the Caribbean+ and killing more than 20 people. The US National Hurricane Center said the storm slowed down after slamming into Cuba’s northern coast, but that wind speeds would likely regain momentum as it approached the Sunshine State.

Winds brought by Hurricane Irma blow palm trees lining the seawall in Caibarien, Cuba on Sept. 8, 2017.

The center said it is looking more likely that the eye of powerful Irma will strike the Florida Keys, southwestern Florida and the Tampa Bay region on Sunday.

Early Saturday, the hurricane center said the storm was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) northwest of the town of Caibarien, Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph). Soldiers and government workers earlier had gone through coastal towns enforcing the evacuation, taking people to shelters at government buildings and schools and even caves.

Many of Irma’s victims fled their islands on ferries and fishing boats for fear of Hurricane Jose, a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds that could punish some places all over again this weekend.

Some islands, though, received a last-minute reprieve as a hurricane warning for Barbuda and Anguilla was downgraded to a tropical storm. Both islands were devastated by Irma.



courtesy:TOI