Forecasters Call Hurricane Irma 'Potentially Catastrophic' | WPN World People News

The Caribbean and southern Florida are in the path of what forecasters are calling a "potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane."

Hurricane Irma is moving toward the region with top sustained winds of 297 kilometers per hour (185 miles per hour) — the strongest winds ever recorded for an Atlantic storm.

Experts are saying this is nothing to take lightly.

Hurricane warnings are already posted for parts of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

President Donald Trump has already declared states of emergency in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida, and ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin relief efforts.

One hurricane expert told the Associated Press that the Leeward Islands are going to "get destroyed."

The string of islands — including Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, and Guadeloupe — are expected to be the first to feel Irma's fury late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Authorities on Puerto Rico have already declared a state of emergency and ordered evacuations.

As much as 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rain could fall on some spots, along with what the hurricane center calls "large and destructive" waves of 6 meters (20 feet) high.

"We are looking at Irma as a very significant event,'' said Ronald Jackson, executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency. "I cannot recall a tropical cone developing that rapidly into a major hurricane prior to arriving in the central Caribbean.''

Irma's exact track is nearly impossible to predict, but Florida is not waiting for a precise forecast. Meteorologists say either Florida coast — along the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico — could be struck by the end of the week.

Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency. Tourists have been ordered to leave the Florida Keys, and supermarket shelves are emptying.

The National Football League has already canceled Sunday's opening season game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins.

A Category 5 hurricane is the strongest storm on the five-level wind scale. Irma's extreme power is fueled by the unusually warm Atlantic waters.

A catastrophic strike on Florida could overwhelm the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA is helping southeast Texas clean up and pay for the damage from Hurricane Harvey — the category 4 storm that hit August 25, dumping a record amount of rain.

Source: Voice of America