Press. voanews.com
Hurricane Irma
is unleashing powerful winds and heavy rains on Hispaniola and the Turks and
Caicos Islands as it continues to pound the Dominican Republic and parts of
Haiti. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Irma's winds, storm surge and
rainfall are life-threatening, and those same conditions are expected late
Thursday in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas. The NHC says Irma is
considered "extremely dangerous" as it maintains its Category 5
strength and packs maximum sustained winds of 280 kilometers per hour (170
mph). The NHC projects Irma will remain a Category 4 or 5 storm for the next
few days.
Death toll
Irma killed at
least one person in Barbuda and eight people in St. Martin after rolling over
those islands Wednesday. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the death
toll on St. Martin is likely to rise. The island is divided between French and
Dutch sides. Dutch officials said they did not yet have information about
casualties, but there is "huge damage," including to the airport and
harbor.
Irma passed
Puerto Rico, knocking out power to more than 1 million people. The head of the
power company on the U.S. island territory said it could be four to six months
before service is totally restored. U.S. President Donald Trump has declared a
state of emergency in Puerto Rico, which has been struggling to maintain its
infrastructure in the midst of a financial crisis. The declaration authorizes
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief
efforts on the island.
"Hurricane
Irma is raging, but we have great teams of talented and brave people already in
place and ready to help. Be careful, be safe! #FEMA," Trump posted
Thursday on Twitter. The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved more than $15 billion
in disaster aid. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday had approved $8
billion for aid for areas affected by Hurricane Harvey. The Senate bill will
now go back to the House, which is expected to pass the measure by the end of
the week.
Barbuda
devastated
Late Wednesday,
Barbuda took a direct hit from Irma, which left behind what Antigua and Barbuda
Prime Minister Gaston Browne called a "really horrendous situation."
He said nearly every building was damaged.
Later this week,
Barbuda faces the potential of being hit by Hurricane Jose, one of three
hurricanes in the region. Jose was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane Thursday,
and is forecast to pass near the northern Leeward Islands on Saturday before
curving north of the path that Irma has followed.
ABS-TV news
director Garfield Burford told VOA that in his conversation with Barbuda's
prime minister, Browne said he was "heartbroken" by the damage he saw
on the island nation and that it might be necessary to evacuate the people
there to Antigua.
"The prime
minister has indicated that if Jose were to be seen to be posing some impact on
Antigua and Barbuda, as did Irma, then it would be absolutely essential that
the residents on Barbuda evacuate and come to Antigua," Burford said.
About 1.2
million people have already been victimized by Irma and that number could
exceed 26 million, the Red Cross said Thursday. The relief organization said
that in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba alone, "an estimated 26
million people could be exposed to destructive winds and torrential rain."
The United
Nations Children's Fund said Thursday some 10.5 million children live in
Caribbean countries that are likely to be impacted by Irma. The organization
said children in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the islands of the Eastern
Caribbean and Haiti are at risk, including 3 million under the age of 5.
In addition to
Irma and Jose, Katia is the third hurricane in the area. Katia is located in
the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. It could strengthen into a major storm before
making landfall in eastern Mexico. Irma is expected to affect the southeastern
U.S. state of Florida on Saturday, still as a major hurricane.
The NHC has
issued hurricane and storm surge warnings for much of the Florida peninsula,
including the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee and Florida Bay. It is increasingly
likely Irma will travel across Florida's crowded east coast in the next three
or four days, potentially impacting millions of residents.
South Florida
officials have already ordered people to evacuate coastal areas. Florida
Governor Rick Scott on Thursday repeated the evacuation orders. "Every
Floridian, every family should take this seriously and be aggressive. You've
got to protect your family," Scott said. Gas stations and grocery stores
saw long lines Thursday as people either fled to safer areas or stocked up on
supplies to ride out the storm.
VOA's Victor
Beattie contributed to this report.
https://www.voanews.com/a/hurricane-irma-dominican-republic-florida/4019656.html