Roseau, Dominica (TDN)
- Hurricane Irma came ashore on the Florida peninsula today as a category 4 storm bringing rain, sea surges and tornados to Miami, Tampa and other cities.
By the time Irma made landfall on the US coastline it had already carved out a trail of death and devastation through the Caribbean.
On Wednesday as a category 5 storm Hurricane Irma completely devastated Bermuda, Anguilla, St Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, St Thomas, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
On Cuba the storm wreaked havoc on the country’s infrastructure but there were no report of injuries due in large measure to the evacuation by the authorities of at least one million people from the affected areas before the approach of the storm.
However the smaller Caribbean islands were not as fortunate with the storm leaving at least 27 people dead. This included 10 on the French side of St Maarten and St Barthelemy, 4 on the Dutch side of St Maarten, 5 from the British Virgin Islands, 4 on St Thomas, 2 on Puerto Rico, and one each on Anguilla and Barbuda.
The authorities on St Maarten estimate that damage to buildings and infrastructure could run as high as 1.2 billion euros. On Barbuda it is estimated that the damage could be in excess of US $ 100 million.
French president Macron is scheduled to visit St Maarten on Monday to assess the damage while pledging to rebuild the country.
Meanwhile on the US mainland, hurricane Irma continues to work its way up the Florida peninsula and is expected to impact Georgia and South Carolina.
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