Hurricane Irma Photos and Video Show Islands Devastated by the Category 5 Storm

Americans got a preview of what Hurricane Irma might do to the southeastern U.S. this week as the storm moved through the Caribbean, leaving destruction in its wake. Irma, a Category 5 system with sustained winds near 175 mph, slammed into places like Barbuda and St. Martin, and left more than 1 million people in Puerto Rico without power.
As of 5 p.m. EDT, Irma was about 40 miles south of Grand Turk Island and about 135 miles east of Great Inagua Island, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving west-northwest at about 16 mph, bringing with it a dangerous storm surge, strong winds and up to 20 inches of rain.
It's official: No storm on record, anywhere on the globe, has maintained winds 185mph or above for as long as #Irma https://t.co/34Z8V7PXFs pic.twitter.com/X8ENs0TCxM
— CNN (@CNN) September 7, 2017
Those conditions and others had already killed over a dozen people.
"There is no power, no gasoline, no running water," Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, which owns Sint Maarten, said in a news conference, according to CBS News. "Houses are under water, cars are floating through the streets, inhabitants are sitting in the dark, in ruined houses and are cut off from the outside world."
My God ... #JostVanDyke #BVI #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/QuaanOLFb6
— Michael S. Smith II (@MichaelSSmithII) September 7, 2017

La plage de Maho Beach sous des conditions extrêmes à #SaintMartin. Vidéo complète 2017 Ptztv https://t.co/4gYqMhaWlI#Irma pic.twitter.com/SMcxoa6LoI
— Keraunos (@KeraunosObs) September 6, 2017

One ocean, three hurricanes: Irma, Jose, and Katia seen by @NASANPP https://t.co/xr7gtEPvtN pic.twitter.com/ne7zLfOOUQ
— Joshua Stevens (@jscarto) September 7, 2017

Communication with Barbuda, which has about 1,600 people, has been intermittent. Barbuda and Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne viewed the island via helicopter and told the Antigua/Barbuda Broadcasting Services that it was "practically uninhabitable."
"From my observation, having done an aerial survey, I would say that about 95 percent of the properties would have suffered some level of damage, they would have lost at least a part of their roofs, some have lost whole roofs, some properties have been totally demolished, it is absolutely heart-wrenching," Browne said, according to Antigua Newsroom.
Hurricane #Irma starts to hit San Juan, Puerto Rico, causing palm trees to nearly blow over in the wind. https://t.co/63YZ2lPqXI pic.twitter.com/HJjzGPMv9g
— ABC News (@ABC) September 6, 2017

Man films Hurricane #Irma’s destruction in St. Thomas to warn Florida what’s coming https://t.co/8dn4JPUS2y pic.twitter.com/8PEWv5TFj7
— CNN (@CNN) September 7, 2017

RIGHT NOW: Several roads are jammed near Gore Street in #Orlando as drivers rush to get sandbags. #WFTV pic.twitter.com/XqMgSVGqXr
— Mike Manzoni NBC10 Boston (@MikeNBCBoston) September 7, 2017

In Florida, local authorities were hoping to prevent such devastation by urging residents to evacuate and to prepare. The Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee, Florida Bay and Jupiter Inlet southward to Bonita Beach were all placed under a hurricane watch Thursday. Governor Rick Scott asked police to escort fuel trucks to sold-out gas stations, activated the National Guard and suspended tolls in order to get people moving away from Irma.
"I'm urging families to stay vigilant and monitor local weather and news," Scott tweeted.
#BreakingNews - Hurricane Irma has destroyed the Island of #SaintMartin #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/qF8mG7Z22U
— Kevin W (@kwilli1046) September 6, 2017

4,000 @FLGuard members now activated for Hurricane #Irma https://t.co/625yHIm2xX @MiamiHerald pic.twitter.com/vOIOxdUbwb
— Kristen M. Clark (@ByKristenMClark) September 7, 2017