Hurricane Irma has spent the past day and a half wreaking havoc in the Caribbean. Irma is currently a Category 5 storm, the strongest possible designation, and has featured wind speeds of 185mph.
At least 10 people have died in the storm, dozens are injured, and thousands have been left homeless.
It has so far ravaged four countries in the region and is headed for more. Ultimately the storm will hit the United States. Its power is expected to have diminished to Category 4 by then, but could still cause huge devastation.
Hurricane Irma first hit Barbuda, a tiny Caribbean island. It was more than 90% destroyed by the storm, as you can see from these local TV images.
The winds were so strong they snapped this metal broadcast tower in half.
Antigua, Barbuda’s sister island, was hit at a similar time. Here is the capital, St John’s, afterwards.
Saint Martin, one of the Leeward Islands, was next in Irma’s path, and was likewise devastated.
Via Jonathan Falwell on St Martin: No power, no water, everything destroyed. Buildings gone. Please pray as this island is decimated. #Irma. pic.twitter.com/Gu5iwgUX4P
— Ed Piotrowski (@EdPiotrowski) September 7, 2017
Then came the British Virgin Islands. This video shows the the "eye wall" — the most intense part of the storm — striking land.
Unmute the video to hear the intense sound of wind.
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Off the charts: The BritishVirgin Islands take the eye wall of #HurricaneIrmathis afternoon. Video via Almira Arayata. pic.twitter.com/pVihIODM9W
— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) September7, 2017
Off the charts: The BritishVirgin Islands take the eye wall of #HurricaneIrmathis afternoon. Video via Almira Arayata. pic.twitter.com/pVihIODM9W
After that the storm approached the US territory of Puerto Rico.
The island is larger, and had a lot more photographers than the others, so there are more pictures of the storm in action.
The winds knocked down trees.
Waves battered ships at sea which couldn't be brought back to harbour in time.
The winds made it tough to walk.
As night fell, flood waters swept onto the island.
Rescuers checked flooded cars in case anybody had not managed to escape.
No deaths have been reported on Puerto Rico so far.
As of early Thursday morning Irma's death toll was 10: One on Barbuda, eight on St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, and one on Anguilla.
Despite the obvious devastation, there were moments of beauty in the storm as well.
A sun flare inside the eye of #hurricaneIrma during one of today's flights. pic.twitter.com/TZU8wf7lfF
— Hurricane Hunters (@53rdWRS) September 6, 2017
This photo was captured by US Air Force 'Hurricane Hunter' planes, which fly into storms to collect the data which informs forecasts and emergency responses on the ground.
And now Irma is headed for the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and then Florida. This is the Weather Channel's latest prediction map.
Here are the current conditions & forecast for #HurricaneIrma. Updates continue all morning long on @weatherchannel. pic.twitter.com/CTvb3IO3vv
— America’s Morning Headquarters (@AMHQ) September 7, 2017