This morning Hurricane Irma is still carrying sustained winds at 185 mph. It remains an exceptionally well-organized storm with a strong eye wall. At this hour, it is directly striking the islands of Anguilla and Saint-Martin. The consequences of such an extreme storm on these small islands is dire.
St. Kitts, Anguilla and other islands all are in the storm’s direct path, and one meteorology expert issued this grave prediction: “The Leeward Islands are going to get destroyed,” said Colorado State University professor Phil Klotzbach.
The British Virgin Islands and northern end of the US Virgin Islands can expect the storm’s arrival next, though the current best prediction has the center of the storm skirting just north of those islands as well as Puerto Rico. This may spare some areas from the hardest blow, but with hurricane force winds extending 50 miles from the center, this is still going to be a damaging, life-threatening storm for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico should expect the arrival of the storm around noon today, and everyone there should be taking shelter now. Now.
Puerto Rico, suffering under an austerity plan imposed by Congress, is doing what it can with limited resources. The island has already seen a crisis in health care, and losses of both medical workers and first responders, and the restrictions on spending are affecting preparations and is expected to have a huge effect on recovery.
The director of Puerto Rico's power company has predicted that this storm could leave some areas on the island without power for four to six months.
Images of Irma are frightening, and the pure strength of the storm is amazing. But there is some good news. Even if the storm remains over water, the National Hurricane Center is predicting a gradual decline in strength.
Irma Predicted Sustained Wind Speed
Day |
Speed |
Wed |
185 |
ThU |
174 |
FRi |
162 |
SAT |
156 |
Sun |
144 |
That decline could be much sharper if, as some models suggest, the eye of the storm drags across Hispaniola or Cuba. The bad news of that slow decline? First, it’s certainly not going to help Puerto Rico or the other islands in Irma’s immediate path. Second, the National Hurricane Center model would put Irma in south Florida by late Saturday early Sunday, poised on the edge between a Category 4 and Category 5 storm.
Meanwhile, wind speeds for Tropical Storm Jose have increased to 60 MPH. It is expected to reach hurricane force by Wednesday evening.