Havana, September 8 (RHC)-- Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic storm ever recorded, laid waste to parts of the Caribbean overnight, pummeling Turks and Caicos, hammering the Bahamas and taking aim at South Florida, home to millions of residents.
The storm’s death toll rose to 18, but officials warned that figure will increase as rescue workers search through the rubble of islands that have seen over 90 percent of all buildings destroyed.
Irma weakened slightly as it pushed west, and was downgraded Friday from a Category 5 to 4 storm, but it remains extremely dangerous, with sustained winds of 155 miles per hour.
The storm lashed the northern Dominican Republic Thursday and flooded parts of Haiti overnight, but Irma’s eye passed well north of Hispaniola, sparing the two countries from the worst of the hurricane's wrath.
Powerful Hurricane Irma Pummels Turks and Caicos, Spares Hispaniola
Related Articles
Commentaries
MAKE A COMMENT
All fields requiredMore Views
- UN special rapporteur warns Israel's crimes in Gaza could keep International Court of Justice busy at The Hague for 50 years
- Arab countries at United Nations declare full support for new UN Security Council resolution that calls for permanent ceasefire in Gaza
- Israeli forces raped, tortured and executed Palestinian women at Al-Shifa Hospital
- International Labor Organization says profits from forced labor at nearly one-quarter of a trillion dollars
- Cuba condemns terrorist act in the Moscow region