Hurricane Irma grew into a powerful Category 4 storm Monday as it approached the northeastern Caribbean and was forecast to begin buffeting the region Tuesday, Newsmax reports.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph) Monday night, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said additional strengthening was expected. Irma was centered 450 miles (725 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands and moving west at 13 mph (20 kph).
Emergency officials warned that the storm could dump up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain, unleash landslides and dangerous flash floods and generate waves of up to 23 feet (7 meters) as the storm drew closer.
“We’re looking at Irma as a very significant event. I can’t recall a tropical cone developing that rapidly into a major hurricane prior to arriving in the central Caribbean.” Ronald Jackson, executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, said.
U.S. residents were urged to monitor the storm’s progress in case it should turn northward toward Florida, Georgia or the Carolinas.
“This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast. It also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of (Hurricane) Harvey,” Evan Myers, chief operating officer of AccuWeather, said in a statement.
States of emergency were declared in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and all of Florida. In the Caribbean, the director of Puerto Rico’s power company predicted that storm damage could leave some areas of the U.S. territory without electricity for four to six months.
Meanwhile, the governor of the British Virgin Islands urged people on Anegada island to leave if they could, noting that Irma’s eye was expected to pass 35 miles (56 kilometers) from the capital of Road Town. Antigua and Anguilla secured schools Monday, and government office closures were expected to follow.
A hurricane warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and St. Barts. A hurricane watch was in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the British and U.S. Virgin islands and Guadeloupe. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Guadeloupe and a tropical storm watch for Dominica.
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