Hurricane Irma barreled through swaths of northern Cuba this weekend on its march toward Florida, ripping off roofs, knocking down power lines and dealing blow after blow to the island’s fragile infrastructure.

Thousands of tourists were evacuated from Cuba’s popular beach resorts as Irma sawed through the island’s northern coast Saturday as a powerful Category 5 hurricane, pummeling the coastline with 160-mph winds and a 10-foot storm surge.

The provinces of Matanzas, Villa Clara, Camaguey and Sancti Spiritus took the brunt of the storm, with collapsed homes and streets clogged with debris. The Cuban capital of Havana took on lashing rains and some flooding.

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Residents of "the capital should know that the flooding is going to last more than 36 hours. In other words, it is going to persist," Civil Defense Col. Luis Angel Macareno said late Saturday.

As Irma loomed, Cuban soldiers spread through towns bracing for the worst impact and forced residents to evacuate, taking many to nearby shelters. Authorities in the city of Santa Clara said 39 buildings had collapsed there.

In Caibarien, a small coastal city about 200 miles east of Havana, winds downed power lines and a three-block area was under water. Many residents had stayed put, hoping to ride out the storm.

The storm’s force was felt strongly in towns like Esmeralda and Chambas in Camaguey Province. Local radio reports said the area’s 13 shelters were filled to capacity with evacuees, according to the Cuban news website, 14ymedio.com.

In western Camaguey, Irma’s storm surge and pounding rain overflowed the San Pedro River, destroying homes and sending residents scrambling for higher ground.

"There was no way to prepare for this,” Liset Ávila, 28, whose house was flooded by the storm, told 14ymedio. “The wind was terrifying but it was the water that did the most damage. I’ve lost everything.”

Before slamming into Cuba, Irma had left a path of destruction in lush Caribbean resorts such as St. Martin, St. Barts, St. Thomas, Barbuda and Anguilla, where residents said they felt abandoned by officials.

The spokesman for France's government, Christope Castaner, said in an interview with Europe1-CNews-Les Echos on Sunday that he "perfectly (understood) the anger" of people on the Caribbean islands.

But he defended the government response, saying emergency help was given "first priority."

Castaner said that many islanders were suffering from "an impact of emotional shock, an impact that's extremely hard psychologically."

Contributing: Associated Press