Hurricane Irma: blackouts and flooding on St Martin as winds destroy sturdiest buildings - live Read moreCaribbean islands including St Barts, St Martin and the British overseas territory of Anguilla took a direct hit from 185mph winds and storm surge of greater than 20ft. In St Martin, 230 miles east of Puerto Rico, officials said government buildings had been destroyed. As the first damage assessments from the northern Leeward Islands began to emerge, residents of the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were bracing for a strike later in the day. In Bayamón, a municipality outside San Juan, Juan Collazo, a student at the University of Puerto Rico, said supermarkets and building merchants were all closed. In Puerto Rico, a team of scientists from the US Geological Survey installed nine storm-tide sensors to measure the height and intensity of the hurricane’s surge.

Source: The Guardian September 06, 2017 15:35 UTC