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Hurricane Irma has slammed into the Caribbean as one of the most powerful storms on record rages towards Puerto Rico and Florida.
Winds of up to 185 mph lashed Barbuda, St. Martin and Anguilla as it threatened “potential catastrophe” over the British Virgin Islands on Wednesday.
US residents were warned not to travel to Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic amid fears the storm could spark life-threatening deluges, flash flooding and landslides across the Caribbean.
While hundreds of British tourists were forced to fly home to safety mid-way through Caribbean breaks.
Footage of deluges raging across St Martin and Guadeloupe have already emerged on social media.
Residents in Florida and Puerto Rico desperately raided supermarkets and boarded up buildings in a bid to stem the chaos of Irma – which has been rated as category 5, the most severe type of storm recorded.
Fears grew that the storm would smash “right into the middle of Florida” by the weekend as those living on low land were urged to flee their homes.
Raging storm: Experts have tracked Irma’s path
The state’s Governor Rick Scott said there would be more mandatory evacuations as Irma approached threatening tidal surges of up to reach 10 feet on the coast.
Authorities in the Florida Keys ordered a mass evacuation of tourists at sunrise on Wednesday.
Public schools throughout South Florida were also forced to close.
“We can rebuild your home, we can’t rebuild your life,” Mr Scott told ABC’s Good Morning America.
He added: “We don’t know exactly where this is going to hit.
Hurricane Irma – In pictures
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Cars left flooded in Saint Martin
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Saint Martin is suffering catastrophic flooding
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Hurricane Irma hitting Saint Martin
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Some of the devastation left behind at Saint Martin
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Hurricane Irma hits Saint Martin
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Floodwaters run down a street in Saint Martin
Carole Greaux
7/23
Saint Martin
8/23
Residents in St Petersburg, Florida, carry sandbags ahead of Hurricane Irma
AP
9/23
A satellite image shows Hurricane Irma at 11AM UK time slamming into the French Caribbean islands. Countries can be seen outlined on the image
AFP/Getty Images
10/23
A view of the Baie Nettle beach in Marigot ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma
AFP/Getty Images
11/23
Employees load plywood for customers in preparation for Hurricane Irma at Lowe’s in Jacksonville, Florida
AP
12/23
Shoppers in Florida ransacked a supermarket as they prepared for Hurricane Irma
Getty Images
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Shoppers at Costco waited up to eight hours for water and essentials in preparation for Hurricane Irma in North Miami
AFP/Getty Images
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Policemen talk to customers at a Costco shop in North Miami as mineral water is sold out and people shop ahead of Hurricane Irma
AFP/Getty Images
15/23
Members of the Civil Defense prepare their gear ahead of Hurricane Irma, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Reuters
16/23
Cars wait in line at a petrol station in North Miami as people shop ahead of Hurricane Irma
AFP/Getty Images
17/23
People put boards on their windows in Saint Martin
AFP/Getty Images
18/23
Residents and municipal employees work together to fill sandbags at Bartlett Park as residents in the area gather supplies and prepare ahead of Hurricane Irma in St. Petersburg, Florida
Getty Images
19/23
A shelf normally containing packaged water is empty at a Piggly Wiggly store in Panama City, Florida
AP
20/23
People load up their cars with sandbags in St Petersburg as the storm approaches
AP
21/23
A thermal image of Harricane Irma
NOAA
22/23
Men in Puerto Rico board up their homes as Hurricane Irma heads for Caribbean
EPA
23/23
Satellite image shows Hurricane Irma at 10.45am UK time followed by Tropical Storm Jose
AFP/Getty Images
“It sure looks like it’s going to bear down right in the middle of Florida.”
US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he was monitoring the storm closely.
He approved emergency declarations for Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and launched federal disaster relief efforts, the White House said.
Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello urged the island’s 3.4 million residents to seek refuge in one of 460 hurricane shelters.
Hundreds of storm watchers stood in wait as winds whipped the shoreline.
“I am worried. This is going to be a huge storm, bigger than I have ever seen,” said Angelica Flecha, 45.
Alex Woolfall said he was on island when the storm hit in the early hours of Wednesday morning local time.
The PR worker described the loud noise of Hurricane Irma “like a jet engine” as he crowded with others in the concrete stairwell for safety.
Tweeting at around 9.30am in the UK, PR worker Mr Woolfall said: “0430 now in #StMaarten and building shaking and howling winds. Scary stuff but still have power.
“Evacuated and everyone now hiding in concrete stairwell of building. Noise of wind insane. Pray this will end soon!”
Several other islands including Anguilla, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, as well as the US and British Virgin Islands, and the Dominican Republic were also hit with a hurricane warning.
In Paris, the French government said it had delivered water and food to two of its overseas territories, St Martin and St Barthelemy, and that emergency response teams would be sent once the storm had passed.
Life-threatening: Cars caught up in flooding on St Martin ()
Power was knocked out on both islands, officials in Guadeloupe.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said at least four buildings were damaged, including the prefecture, a fire brigade barracks and a police building and that low-lying regions had been flooded.
“For now we’re not aware of any deaths,” Collomb told reporters in Paris.
French Overseas Territories Minister Annick Girardin said “there was much to fear” for citizens who had not heeded calls to seek safety in more secure buildings.
Irma could be the most powerful storm to hit Puerto Rico in 80 years as the US National Weather Service said the island had not seen a hurricane of Irma’s magnitude since Hurricane San Felipe in 1928.
San Felipe which killed a total of 2,748 people in Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and Florida.
The storm raged just weeks after Hurricane Harvey smashed into Texas and raged across the US killing more than 60 people and causing $180 billion worth of damage.
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