Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Cuba as Category 5
Upgraded storm strikes Cuba’s Camaguey Archipelago as millions of Florida residents scramble to evacuate coastal are
Hurricane Irma strengthened and made landfall in Cuba as a Category 5 storm, as millions of Florida residents were ordered to evacuate after the storm killed 22 people in the eastern Caribbean and left destruction in its wake.
Irma struck Camaguey Archipelago on Cuba’s north-central Atlantic coast packing 260km/h winds late on Friday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Category 5 is the NHC’s most powerful designation.
Irma, one of the fiercest Atlantic storms in a century, was expected to hit Florida on Sunday morning, bringing massive damage from wind and flooding to the fourth-largest state by population.
The scenes along Cuba’s coast were gradually coming to resemble horrors of other Caribbean islands over the last week as Irma barreled in for a direct hit at Ciego de Avila province around midnight.
Choppy seas, grey skies, sheets of rain, bending palm trees, huge waves crashing over sea walls and downed power lines filled state-run television’s evening news cast.
Irma was forecast to bring dangerous storm surges of up to three metres on parts of Cuba’s northern coast and the central and northwestern Bahamas.
Meteorologists warned that by Saturday morning, scenes of far greater devastation were sure to emerge as Irma worked her way along the northern coast westward through Sancti Spiritus and Villa Clara provinces where it is forecast to turn northward toward Florida.
The area is home to pristine keys with more than 50 hotels and beaches.
Irma was about 485km southeast of Miami, the NHC said in its latest advisory.