Hurricane Irma one of the strongest Atlantic-basin storms ever
San Juan — Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, churned across northern Caribbean islands on Wednesday with a potentially catastrophic mix of fierce winds, surf and rain, en route to a possible Florida landfall at the weekend. Irma is expected to become the second powerful storm to thrash the US mainland in as many weeks, but its precise trajectory remains uncertain. Hurricane Harvey killed more than 60 people and caused damaged estimated as high as $180bn when it hit Texas late last month. The eye of Irma, a category 5 storm packing winds of 295km/h, moved away from the island of Barbuda and toward the island of St Martin, east of Puerto Rico, early on Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami reported. It could hit Florida on Saturday. "We are hunkered down and it is very windy ... the wind is a major threat," said Garfield Burford, the director of news at ABS TV and Radio on the island of Antigua, south of Barbuda. "So far, some ...
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