Hurricane Irma took a stride closer to a deadly weekend landfall on Florida’s south coast as forecasters predicted large parts of Miami-Dade, the state’s largest county, could be uninhabitable for many weeks after the monster storm’s passage.
Officials warned that the death toll from Irma, the most powerful storm in Atlantic Ocean history with winds of 185mph, could cause casualties well beyond the 12 already killed in the Caribbean.
In its 5pm advisory on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said that Irma, still churning as a 175mph category 5 hurricane off the Dominican Republic’s northern coast, was set for a Sunday morning landfall close to Miami, Florida’s most populous city, then march north up the center of the state towards Orlando.
“It has become more likely that Irma will make landfall in southern Florida as a dangerous major hurricane and bring life-threatening storm surge and wind effects to much of the state,” NHC senior specialist Lixion Avilia wrote in the advisory.
Earlier, the National Weather Service in Miami warned that even as a slightly weakened category 4 hurricane, Irma would still pack enormous power. The NWS warned of “structural damage to sturdy buildings, some with complete roof and wall failures. Locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months.”
The dire warnings to Florida residents, and the unwelcome westward shift in Irma’s projected path to endanger more of the state, came as the death toll in the Caribbean islands from one of the most powerful storms in history continued to rise.
At least 12 deaths have now been reported, four in the French territory of St Martin, three in Puerto Rico, and one in the British overseas territory of Anguilla, as well as a toddler who was killed on the island of Barbuda, which was all but destroyed by the fury of Irma’s 185mph winds and deadly storm surge.
The storm lashed the north coast of Puerto Rico overnight and left more than 1 million people without power, even though the eye of the hurricane remained offshore.Florida’s governor, Rick Scott, warned that the arrival of Irma’s life-threatening wind field and storm surge was imminent, and urged residents in coastal areas to leave immediately.
About 250,000 people were ordered to evacuate, making it of the largest evacuations in US history as the NHC placed south Florida, including the southernmost counties of Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward, under a hurricane watch. Preparations were escalating at a furious pace as the storm’s forecast path narrowed in on the south-eastern portion of the state, home to 7 million people.
Philip Levine, the mayor of Miami Beach, ordered a mandatory evacuation of the barrier island beginning at daybreak on Thursday. “This is a nuclear hurricane,” he said. “I’ll do anything in my power to convince them to leave. Get off Miami Beach.”
Scott warned that the effects of the storm could begin to be felt later on Friday, with the NHC predicting Irma’s full wrath would strike the south-east coast near Miami some time late Saturday or early Sunday morning, then move north.
“Look at the size of the storm,” Scott said. “It’s huge, it’s wider than our entire state right now. If you are under an evacuation order, do not wait. Leave and get out. We can rebuild your home, but you can’t get your life back.”
Barbuda, where Irma made its first landfall early on Wednesday, suffered widespread devastation with 95% of all buildings destroyed, according to Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda.
“I felt like crying, but crying will not help,” Browne told reporters after an aerial tour late on Wednesday.
Large areas of the 62 sq mile island remained under water, he said, and 60% of the island’s more than 1,800 residents were homeless and being evacuated to Antigua to the south, which fared better.
Rebuilding the island, Browne estimated, would cost at least $100m. An additional worry was a second hurricane, Jose, which was predicted to rake the island with 120mph winds on Saturday.
Anguilla also suffered catastrophic damage, according to the foreign office. A Royal Navy warship and humanitarian experts from Britain were on their way to the island to support relief efforts for the 15,000 residents.
A former UK representative to Anguilla told the Guardian the government’s response was “pathetic” and “disgraceful”.
Video posts on social media from residents of St Martin and St Barts also showed devastation. Flooding appeared to be the most significant issue, with buildings and vehicles under water. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he could not confirm the number of casualties but feared they could be significant.
“All of France is grief-stricken by the many victims yesterday from the hurricane,” he said.
In the southern Bahamas, which lie directly in Irma’s projected path, most airports were closed by lunchtime as the last residents evacuated. Only the main airport in the capital, Nassau, was still open on Thursday afternoon for a final handful of flights before tropical storm-force winds arrived later in the evening.
Officials in Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic and Haiti were also fearing significant damage from the storm’s category 5 winds and storm surge of up to 20ft. In Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, the United Nations warned that the impact could surpass that of Hurricane Matthew, which struck Hispaniola as a category 4 storm in October 2006.
“Considering the possible magnitude that Irma represents, it is both hugely urgent and necessary to be prepared, informed and vigilant,” said Marita Perceval, regional director of the UN children’s fund in Latin America and the Caribbean.
UN teams had already positioned supplies of medicines, food and water in vulnerable areas, she said.
According to the NHC’s 11am advisory on Thursday, Irma would “continue to bring life-threatening wind, storm surge and rainfall hazards to the northern coast of Hispaniola today”.
The advisory also repeated earlier warnings that Florida, and the low-lying Florida Keys island chain, faced “life-threatening inundation” from floodwaters within the next 48 hours.
Scott said at a morning briefing that 31,000 tourists and residents were fleeing north, contributing to congestion on south Florida’s major highways.
“Every community and every family must take this seriously,” he said, reminding residents that the potential damage surpassed that of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which led to 65 deaths in the state.
Disaster analysts said Floridian memories were short. Dr Steven Godby, an expert in natural hazards at Nottingham Trent University, said: “South Florida has not experienced a storm as powerful as Irma for 25 years. Population and assets have grown significantly since Andrew, putting more people and property at risk.
“Many Floridians will never have experienced, or have forgotten, what a severe storm like Irma is like. The potential for catastrophic storm surge along the east coast of Florida is now a major concern, with widespread destruction and loss of life among those choosing not to evacuate.”
- The Associated Press contributed to this report
