Hurricane Irma Barrels Toward Miami As Residents Scramble To Evacuate
After laying waste to much of the Leeward Islands and leaving most of Puerto Rico without power, Hurricane Irma is continuing its destructive march through the Caribbean which is expected to culminate with landfall in Miami sometime this weekend.
As we noted yesterday, Irma’s catastrophic 185+ mph winds left 90% of the dwellings on the island of Barbuda completely leveled, according to Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
First images out of Barbuda from a Facebook broadcast live by ABS Radio & TV.
Widespread destruction has occurred on the island.
Unfortunately, Irma’s power isn’t expected to subside all that much as it moves over several Caribbean islands over the next couple of days before ending up in Southern Florida. Here is the latest from the National Hurricane Center:
Maximum sustained winds remain near 180 mph (285 km/h) with higher gusts. Irma is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days.
FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS
- INIT 07/0900Z 20.0N 68.3W 155 KT 180 MPH
- 12H 07/1800Z 20.7N 70.5W 150 KT 175 MPH
- 24H 08/0600Z 21.7N 73.1W 145 KT 165 MPH
- 36H 08/1800Z 22.3N 75.5W 140 KT 160 MPH
- 48H 09/0600Z 22.8N 77.4W 135 KT 155 MPH
- 72H 10/0600Z 24.5N 80.0W 130 KT 150 MPH
- 96H 11/0600Z 28.5N 80.5W 105 KT 120 MPH
- 120H 12/0600Z 33.0N 81.0W 75 KT 85 MPH…INLAND
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 50 miles (85 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 km).
STORM SURGE: The combination of a life-threatening storm surge and large breaking waves will raise water levels ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS by the following amounts within the hurricane warning area near and to the north of the center of Irma. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.
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