
The Turks and Caicos are bracing for impact today as Hurricane Irma powers on after laying waste to the Caribbean and killing at least 13 people on her deadly path to the U.S.

The powerful category five storm is expected to make landfall in the British oversees territory Thursday night, into Friday morning.

Eight people have been killed in the storm so far: Eight on the French/Dutch island of St. Martin, three in Puerto Rico and the islands of Anguilla and Barbuda recorded a death each.

By early Thursday afternoon, the hurricane was north of the Dominican Republic, where authorities reported some flooding and the evacuation of several thousand locals and tourists but no serious damage or casualties.

Skies over the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, were still clear just after noon local time. About a million people were without power in Puerto Rico after Irma sideswiped the island, but the damage was nothing compared to the smaller islands that were first hit by the storm.

More than 90 per cent of all properties on the islands and Barbuda and St Martin were destroyed in the storm, leaving thousands homeless.

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View of wreckage in the vicinity of the Santurce neighborhood in the aftermath of the hurricane Irma, in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday

This Wednesday photo shows storm damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in St. Martin

Washed up: Cars on the beach in Marigot near the Bay of Nettle on the French Collectivity of St Martin after the hurricane battered the coast last night

Destruction: Dozens of cars were thrown around the hotel car park by the 185mph winds which tore through St Martin

A map shows the projection that Hurricane Irma is expected to take over the next few days

It's still unclear what direction the storm will take as it inches closer to the U.S. Most models show it hitting Florida though

On Barbuda, more than 90 per cent of buildings were damaged when the hurricane's core crossed almost directly over the island early Wednesday - resulting in the death of a child. About 60 per cent of its roughly 1,400 residents were left homeless, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told The Associated Press.

'It is just really a horrendous situation,' Browne said.

He said roads and telecommunications systems were wrecked and recovery would take months, if not years. A two-year-old child was killed as a family tried to escape a damaged home during the storm, Browne said.

In Anguilla, officials reported extensive damage to the airport, hospitals, shelters and schools and said 90 per cent of roads were impassable.

Photos and video of St. Martin circulating on social media showed major damage to the Philipsburg airport and heavy flooding in the coastal village of Marigot.

While the storm passed just north of Puerto Rico on Wednesday, the U.S. territory island suffered three deaths in the storm.

More than half the island is still without power as well, leaving more than 900,000 in the dark and 50,000 without water.

Fourteen hospitals on the island have resorted to backup generators thanks to the winds which knocked power lines down.

Puerto Rico's public power company warned before the storm hit that some areas could be left without power from four to six months because its staff has been reduced and its infrastructure weakened by the island's financial crisis.

President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, allowing federal agencies to step in and provide aid.

Haitian people walk through the wind and rain on a beach, in Cap-Haitien on Thursday as Hurricane Irma approached

An employee from an electrical company works to remove a tree felled by Hurricane Irma, in Sanchez, Dominican Republic, on Thursday

This Wedesday photo shows storm damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, in St. Martin. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean, leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees

Marines of the Dutch Defence of the Armed forces load humanitarian aid for victims of the hurricane Irma on the island of Saint Martin at the Air force base in Eindhoven, the Netherlands on Thursday

Chaos: One home-owner on St Martin had put up boards outside his house to protect the windows but they offered little help

Violent: The winds battered the St. Martin coast, tearing trees from their roots and snapping the weaker vegetation clean in half

Force: The winds, which are as fast as 185mph, were so strong that they upturned cars on the Caribbean island of St Martin

Bird's eye view: This image was taken on a flight above Saint Martin to determine the damage caused to the Caribbean island by Hurricane Irma

Broken palm trees on the beach of the Hotel Mercure in Marigot on Saint Martin after the passage of Hurricane Irma

Chaos on the beach: Some of the damage at Dreams Hotel in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic after hurricane Irma

Holidaymakers return to their rooms after spending the night in the Theatre taking refuge from Hurricane Irma at the Dreams Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Hurricane Irma destroyed 90 percent of the tiny island of Barbuda (above) when it made landfall early on Wednesday. The Caribbean island was reduced to rubble, according to its Prime Minister Gaston Browne

An aerial photo taken and released by the Dutch department of Defense shows the damage of Hurricane Irma in Philipsburg, on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten

Devastation: This was the scene on Saint-Barth after the hurricane hit. French President Emmanuel Macron said he expects that victims and heavy damage will be discovered on the island

This was the bizarre scene along the coast of Saint Martin after roofs were torn off houses and blown off in to the streets

Dramatic pictures have emerged on social media showing the scale of the flooding on the island St Martin in the immediate aftermath of the storm passing

This morning, the United Nations said up to 49 million people are in the hurricane's path as aid agencies prepare for a 'major humanitarian response'. France, the Netherlands and Britain have sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said 100,000 food rations were sent to St. Barts and St. Martin, the equivalent of four days of supplies.

'It's a tragedy, we'll need to rebuild both islands,' he said. 'Most of the schools have been destroyed.'

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the storm 'caused wide-scale destruction of infrastructure, houses and businesses.'

'There is no power, no gasoline, no running water. 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,' he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he would go to the islands as soon as the weather permits it. Saying he was 'grief-stricken,' Macron called for concerted efforts to tackle global warming to prevent similar natural disasters.

A Dutch navy ship arrived in St. Martin with vital supplies. And two Dutch military aircraft were being sent the island of Curacao and on to St. Martin to deliver food and water intended to last the population of 40,000 five days. The aircraft were carrying 100 extra troops to deliver aid, repair infrastructure and restore order.

Meanwhile, residents on the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla said the island was 'utterly devastated' and looked as though it had 'suffered nuclear bomb devastation' while shocking videos have emerged showing the scale of the devastation in the British Virgin Islands.

Irma passed to the north of Puerto Rico late on Wednesday night lashing it with heavy rain and powerful winds. Rescue crews are pictured above investigating a flooded car in Fajardo, Puerto Rico

Boats piled up as the eye of Hurricane Irma passed over Tortola in the British Virgin Islands on Wednesday

Luxury homes and hotels were destroyed, roads submerged in water and sturdy palm trees ripped out of the ground on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Marteen

Shipping containers were left strewn around a port area at Sint Marteen while homes and hotels were left in ruins

Hurricane Irma has ripped through Caribbean islands on a path towards the US. A second hurricane, Jose, is developing in the Atlantic

Tracking the storm: This model from European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast shows the projected path of Irma. The red shows where it will hit land and cause serious damage

Destruction ahead: This European operational model shows the likely landfall location for Hurricane Irma when it hits Florida

The above graph shows the possible track that Irma will take as it approaches the U.S. and turns northward

The U.K. government says Irma has inflicted 'severe and in places critical' damage to the British overseas territory of Anguilla. Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan says the Caribbean island took the full force of the category 5 hurricane.

He told lawmakers on Thursday that the British Virgin islands have also suffered 'severe damage.' On another British territory, Monsterrat, the damage is 'not as severe as first thought.'

Duncan said the hurricane is expected to hit another British overseas territory, Turks and Caicos, later today.

Britain was sending hundreds of troops and the Royal Navy flagship HMS Ocean to Anguilla, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands.

A man walks past damaged buildings and debris in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the French Collectivity of Saint Martin

Carnage: An iron railing fence was shattered into pieces in St Martin by the hurricane which is the most powerful ever recorder in the Atlantic

Aftermath: A woman walks across a road littered with debris and smashed cars in St Martin outside a battered house

Destroyed: This house in St Martin was so damaged by the winds that the inside looked unrecognizable with furniture scattered around

Path of destruction: This map shows the projected path of the hurricane which will hit the US this weekend

The majority of Barbuda's buildings were flattened when Hurricane Irma battered the tiny island with a population of 1,600 on Wednesday

St Martin also suffered the storm's full fury (above) with roughly 95 percent of properties damaged. At least six people died on the French part of St Martin - a pristine resort known for its vibrant nightlife

The devastating hurricane pulverised the island of Saint Martin, ripping roofs off buildings, flipping cars over and flooding roads

Roads were swamped underwater, buildings left in ruins and cars tossed upside down in Saint Martin by the devastating force of the hurricane

Damage: The storm laid waste to coastal resorts in Saint Martin as it ripped across the island yesterday

Cars were crushed by flying debris and roofs were torn off houses on Saint Martin as the storms hit yesterday

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the hurricane had destroyed about 90 percent of structures and vehicles in Barbuda. A resident is pictured above examining his damaged home in in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda

Powerful: This home in St Martin was completely ruined by the hurricane which battered the island last night

Devastation: A picture taken outside this home in St. Martin showed a car upturned on the drive alongside fallen drainpipes

Windswept: A large pile of debris was washed up on the beach in St. Martin by the storm which overturned a boat and destroyed trees

A photo taken on September 6 shows cars piled on top of one another in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle in St Martin

Abandoned: A book lies sodden and torn on a sandy road lined with torn trees and plastic debris after the hurricane hit St. Martin

Uninhabitable: The winds were so violent that they tore down the outside of wooden houses, depositing debris all around. Above, a picture of the devastation in St. Martin

A photo taken on September 6, 2017 shows debris outside the damaged Hotel Mercure in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on St. Martin

Life goes on: People walk through damage on September 7 in a sand-covered street of Marigot in St Martin

Two residents survey the destruction in the wake of hurricane Irma which tore through St Martin on Wednesday night

Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said earlier Thursday that he could not confirm news reports of looting in Saint Maarten, where a curfew is in force in the aftermath of Wednesday's storm.

The ministry says a KDC-10 and a C-130 Hercules are to fly to Curacao from a military air base in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven. The Hercules will then be used to ferry supplies to St. Maarten because it should be able to land at the badly damaged Princess Juliana Airport

The planes will carry enough food and water to supply the 40,000-strong population for five days.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told ABS TV Radio in Antigua that the island was in 'total devastation' and has been reduced to 'literally rubble.'

He added that the island, which is home to 1,800 people, was left 'barely habitable'.

'The entire housing stock was damaged... Some have lost whole roofs. Some properties have been totally demolished,' he said.

STARK BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES REVEAL HOW IRMA LEFT ISLANDS IN RUINS IN A MATTER OF HOURS These starkly contrasting photos show how 185mph Hurricane Irma laid waste to Caribbean islands in a matter of hours. Before and after pictures from some of the worst affected islands reveal how airports, luxury hotels, beach front bars and entire marinas have been destroyed by furious winds since the early hours of Wednesday morning. The images emerged as Irma continued its path of destruction after slamming into Anguilla, Barbuda, Saint-Barthelemy, St Martin and the British Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have also been hit as the UN predicted 49 million people lie in the hurricane's path. The before and after pictures show the extent of damage on holiday hotspots St Martin, where at least eight are confirmed dead, and the British Virgin Islands where Richard Branson's home was destroyed. A composite image shows how the Dolphin Discovery attraction on Tortola in the Virgin Islands was ravaged by Irma's force Before: This was the plush atrium in the 144-room, waterfront Beach Plaza Hotel in St Martin before Irma struck on Wednesday After: But by Wednesday night the same hotel had been badly damaged with water cascading through its atrium amid 185mph winds Footage taken during the storm shows waves crashing underneath rooms at the hotel as Irma whipped the coastline of St Martin Another composite image shows how Irma's power wrecked the popular Honky Tonk bar in Philipsburg St Martin Before: The luxury Eden Rock hotel on St Barts, owned by the parents of Pippa Middleton's husband James Matthews, is a hotspot for celebrities including Tom Hanks, Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez After: Pictures on social media show how it looks after being ravaged by Hurricane Irma on Wednesday when the storm swept over St Barts Before: This was the scene at Paraquita Bay as the eye of Hurricane Irma passed Tortola in the British Virgin Islands Before: Pictures show how the marina was laid to waste as boats were driven onto the shoreline by the force of the storm Before: The popular Ivan's Stress Free Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands was a hit with tourists and locals alike After: But by the end of Wednesday, the area had been laid to waste by Hurrican Irma it swept north west over the British Virgin Islands Before: Princess Juliana airport on the Dutch side of St Martin was famed for its proximity to the beach with tourists gathering to watch planes land just over their heads After: But this was the scene after it was ravaged by howling winds as Irma crashed into the island on Wednesday Advertisement

Ruins: A house reduced to rubble on the French administered territory of Saint Barthelemy, after the passage of Hurricane Irma

Raging water: Waves crash against a boat near the shore as Hurricane Irma passes over Samana, Dominican Republic

Damage outside the Mecure hotel in Marigot, on the Bay of Nettle, on the island of Saint-Martin in the northeast Caribbean, after the passage of Hurricane Irma

Cars remain outside a destroyed building with debris that was flow on to the ground below by the high winds of Irma in St Martin

'We have estimated the rebuilding efforts to be no less than $150 million. That is conservative, because we're talking about rebuilding everything, all of the institutions, the infrastructure, the telecommunications, the roads... Even the hotels on the island, those are totally demolished, as well. It is terrible.'

Aerial footage of Barbuda after Irma passed through showed a flattened, flooded landscape.

The child who was killed, aged two, was trying to escape a damaged building with its mother at the time.

Irma passed to the north of Puerto Rico just before 10.30pm on Wednesday lashing it with heavy rain and powerful winds.

'The winds that we are experiencing right now are like nothing we have experienced before,' Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello told CNN. 'We expect a lot of damage, perhaps not as much as was seen in Barbuda.'

More than half of Puerto Rico's population of three million was left without power and at least 50,000 were without water, with rivers breaking their banks in the center and north of the island.

Governor Ricardo Rossello had activated the National Guard and opened storm shelters sufficient to house up to 62,000 people. Fourteen hospitals were relying on emergency generators.

Desolation: One of the videos shows a blanket of debris on the island of Tortola. Right: A car left wrecked by the devastating hurricane

Luxury yachts were destroyed and sunk as huge waves battered the coast of St Martin overnight

Wooden structures were obliterated by ferocious winds that battered St Martin on Wednesday

Even shipping containers were thrown around like Lego bricks as the wind battered the coastline of St Martin on Wednesday

Entire communities were laid to waste as the wind levelled homes and businesses in St Martin yesterday

Massive waves continued to crash into the coastline of the Dutch side of St Martin last night in the aftermath of the storm

IRMA'S PATH OF DESTRUCTION: 185MPH HURRICANE'S DEADLY MARCH ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN Hurricane Irma has killed at least ten people and caused devastation on Caribbean islands as it heads towards the south coast of America. It first hit land in the early hours of Wednesday morning before heading north west on a deadly path of destruction. These are the islands affected so far: Antigua and Barbuda Barbuda was the first land to be hit by 185mph Irma with the storm destroying nearly all buildings on the island and killing a two-year-old child as a family tried to escape. Officials described 'total carnage' with 95 per cent of Barbuda destroyed by the force of the wind and left 'barely habitable'. A two-year-old child was reportedly killed in the storm. St Kitts & Nevis Prime Minister minister Timothy Harris said the island was 'spared the full brunt' of Irma, but warned of 'significant damage' to buildings. Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy At least eight were left dead on Saint Martin as the storm wreaks havoc on the two islands. Speaking on French radio France Info, Gerard Collomb said the death toll in Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy could be higher because rescue teams have yet to finish their inspection of the islands. Some 95 per cent of St Martin has been destroyed. 'It is an enormous disaster, 95 percent of the island is destroyed, I am in shock,' Daniel Gibbs, chairman of a local council on Saint Martin, told Radio Caribbean International. Anguilla The tourist board says the major resorts on the island survived a hit from Hurricane Irma but many private homes have been damaged. However, Josephine Gumbs-Conner, a lawyer from the British Overseas Territory, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme today: Anguilla is utterly devastated. We are very familiar with hurricanes, but this particular one, Hurricane Irma, was off the charts in terms of strength. It has certain cut a swathe through Anguilla that has left us in absolute pieces. 'Our police service has suffered roof damage, so has our court house, so has our prisons, so has the hospital. Just in terms of essential services alone we are clearly in limping position. 'When you look at our island at the moment you would think that it just suffered nuclear bomb devastation. We are in such a compromised position at the moment.' Hurricane Irma started hammering Puerto Rico with 185mph winds late on Wednesday as it followed a projected path that would see it hit the northern edges of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday British Virgin Islands The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the eye of Hurricane Irma passed over the British Virgin Islands with wind gust of up to 110 mph to the west at Buck Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Significant damage has been reported with critical facilities, homes, businesses and supermarkets destroyed. Among the people hunkered down was Richard Branson, the head of the Virgin Group, whose home on Necker Island was destroyed. US president Donald Trump has declared a state of emergency in the US Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico At 1 p.m. local time, the storm was centered about 35 miles east of St. Thomas and 105 miles east of San Juan. Irma blacked out much of Puerto Rico as the dangerous Category 5 storm raked the U.S. territory with heavy wind and rain while staying just out to sea. Irma is the worst hurricane to hit the island since 1928. Most have been left without power and 50,000 without water. Advertisement

The storm is expected to close in on Turks and Caicos and south-eastern Bahamas tonight before veering north for Florida.



NOAA Hurricane Hunters flight director Richard Henning told CNN Wednesday night that Irma is 'getting stronger'.

He said hurricane aircrafts were measuring winds over 189 mph at the eye of the storm.

'You really can't over-hype this storm. We haven't really seen a storm like Irma.'

The US National Weather Service said Puerto Rico had not seen a hurricane of Irma's magnitude since Hurricane San Felipe in 1928, which killed a total of 2,748 people in Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and Florida.

'The dangerousness of this event is like nothing we've ever seen,' Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said. 'A lot of infrastructure won't be able to withstand this kind of force.'

Waste land: Luxury yachts and power boats were tossed on top of each other as the hurricane blasted through Saint Martin

Locals walk through the ruins of a harbour area on the island of Saint Martin after the hurricane left it in ruins

Fallen trees block a street in Fajardo, Puerto Rico as Hurricane Irma howled past after thrashing several Caribbean islands

A rescue team from the local emergency management agency inspects flooded areas after Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on Wednesday night in Fajardo, Puerto Rico

Members of the civil defense run as Hurricane Irma howls past Puerto Rico on Wednesday afternoon

Even before the storm hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday, it churned up winds strong enough to down trees, like the one above

Yanina Lopez took cover at an emergency center as Hurricane Irma approached Puerto Rico in Fajardo on Wednesday

Hotels were flooded and cars submerged as floods hit coastal areas during hurricane-force winds on St Martin overnight

Flooding and strong winds on the island of St Martin in the Caribbean destroyed about 95 per cent of the buildings

This was the scene of devastation on St Martin after fierce winds and flooding destroyed buildings and swamped roads

DELTA AIRLINES PLANE FILES INTO HURRICANE IRMA A daring Delta Airlines pilot dodged Hurricane Irma to land in Puerto Rico - before dropping off all the passengers and heading back to JFK in just 51 minutes. Hundreds of flights were cancelled due to the storm, but the crew for Delta flight 431 decided they were up for the challenge. The plane, in order to get in one last flight to and from the island before the storm hit, flew directly from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then quickly turned around and came back. Delta had a scheduled flight from New York to San Juan, which was scheduled to leave at 8.05am. The flight ended up leaving just a few minutes after when it was meant to, and remarkable landed seven minutes earlier than scheduled. Delta flight 431 had a scheduled flight from New York to San Juan, which was scheduled to leave at 8.05am, and managed to leave just a few minutes late and land seven minutes early A photo shows Delta Flight 431 as it heads towards Puerto Rico, which looked to be covered in torrential clouds and rain. Though the plane flew directly into the storm, no one was hurt and the plane landed safely Jason Rabinowitz monitored the flight on Flightradar24 and tweeted updates about the entire journey. Photos show the tricky path that the plane had to take to avoid the worst bits of turbulence. In the flight path it's clear that the pilots made a point to weave in between the outer bands of the storm to get to and from San Juan. Though flight deplaning is a largely long and frustrating process, Delta said that in this case it was a walk in the park. The crew on this plane was able to get all passengers to the gate, deplaned, boarded for a return flight, and then off the ground in just 51 minutes. As Rabinowitz pointed out, it was most likely a quick turnaround once it was down on the ground so that the crew could get out of the way of the storm as quickly as possible. The flight, Delta 303, was the last one out of the San Juan Airport on Wednesday. It landed in New York at 4.22pm, more than 30 minutes early. People watching Rabinowitz's live-updates shared their nerves for the two flights, and then their relief and how impressed they were with the pilot and crew when both landed. The plane was then able to get the flight deplaned, boarded, and back in the air in just 51 minutes so they could get everyone back to America quickly and safely One twitter user jokingly tweeted a photo of Jon Stewart anxiously eating popcorn to describe how watching the play-by-play about the flights made him feel. Another man, Tom Gutting wrote: 'This is seriously one of the most tense, dramatic things I've seen on Twitter. Thanks for documenting. Unreal.' The intensity of the storm makes the Delta pilot's ability to navigate in the storm and get to and from Puerto Rico safely all the more remarkable. Patrick Smith, a pilot who runs a blog about planes told the Huffington Post that there isn't much that is subjective regarding winds on the ground and the ability of a flight to land. 'There are maximum tailwind and crosswind limits that have to be observed,' he explained. 'Above and beyond any hard-and-fast limits, you've got powerful gusts, severe turbulence, extreme precipitation or other clearly unstable conditions, no airline is going to sanction flight in those conditions.' However, a Delta news release assured people that the weather conditions in San Juan were safe enough for the flights. The release said the flight faced 'nine miles of visibility and light rain,' and that ll rain was 'well below operating limits' for the type of plane that was being flown. Advertisement

On St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, Laura Strickling spent 12 hours hunkered down with her husband and 1-year-old daughter in a boarded-up basement apartment with no power as the storm raged outside.

They emerged to find the lush island in tatters, with many of their neighbors' homes damaged and the once-dense vegetation largely gone.

'There are no leaves. It is crazy. One of the things we loved about St. Thomas is that it was so green. And it's gone,' said Strickling, who moved to the island with her husband three years ago from Washington, D.C. 'It will take years for this community to get back on its feet.'

Significant effects were also reported on St Martin. Photos and video circulating on social media showed major damage to the airport in Philipsburg and the coastal village of Marigot heavily flooded.

Destruction: A building can be seen with its roof almost completely torn off after the British Virgin Islands was battered by Hurricane Irma

Catastrophe: In Everton Powell's 'traumatic' video, the remnants of houses can be seen lying next to uprooted trees in the streets of Tortola

Uprooted: Trees have been enormously damaged in the monster storm. The above picture appears to show a bar on the island of Jost Van Dyke that has been devastated

The full force of the hurricane was released on the British Virgin Islands

EXCLUSIVE HOTEL OWNED BY PIPPA MIDDLETON'S IN-LAWS LIES IN RUINS A luxury hotel owned by the parents of Pippa Middleton's husband James Matthews has been left in ruins after being ravaged by Hurricane Irma. Eden Rock Hotel on St Barthelemy - a hotspot for celebrities including Tom Hanks, Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez - was pictured today strewn with rubble after a devastating encounter with the storm, which has left ten people dead. The shocking photos were taken by Kevin Barrallon and posted online under the caption, 'St Barts after the passage of Irma'. Eden Rock Hotel on St Barthelemy - a hotspot for celebrities including Tom Hanks, Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez - was pictured today in ruins after it was struck by Hurricane Irma Describing the scene at the hotel, where rooms start at £777 a night and which is pictured before the devastation, one witness wrote on Twitter, 'all that's left is rock' Eden Rock became one of the Middleton family's favourite holiday spots, with Pippa and James spotted relaxing there on numerous occasions. Pictured is David and James Matthews, left, and James with Pippa Middleton, right Describing the scene at the hotel, where rooms start at £777 a night, one witness wrote on Twitter, 'all that's left is rock'. David and Jane Matthews moved to St Barts in September 1995 after purchasing Eden Rock from local adventurer Rémy de Haenen. It quickly became one of the Middleton family's favourite holiday spots, with Pippa and James spotted relaxing there on numerous occasions. Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews is also a fan of the resort, and has been seen visiting it with friends and girlfriends. Hurricane Irma, at category 5, is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic and devastated the hotel, pictured Made in Chelsea star's Ollie Proudlock and Spencer Matthews at the Eden Rock hotel Describing the scene at the hotel, where rooms start at £777 a night, one witness wrote on Twitter, 'all that's left is rock' Hurricane Irma left a trail of deadly devastation through the Caribbean when it struck on Wednesday. Pictured: The scene at Eden Rock The hotel was the first to be built on St Barts, in 1950. It quickly pulled in celebrities, and was visited in the 50s and 60s by guests including the Rothschild and Rockefeller families. Hurricane Irma, at category 5, is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. Advertisement

France sent emergency food and water rations there and to the French island of St. Bart's, where Irma ripped off roofs and knocked out all electricity.

In Cuba, a state of alert was declared in several eastern and central provinces, with at-risk residents advised to move in with relatives or reach government shelters.

Haiti's northern coast was on hurricane alert, although in the town of Cap-Haitien residents appeared mostly unaware of the impending storm.

The US National Hurricane Center said Irma's winds would fluctuate, but the storm would likely remain at Category 4 or 5 for the next day or two as it roared past the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, the Turks & Caicos and parts of the Bahamas.

Evacuations from high-risk areas were ordered throughout the path of the storm.

By early Sunday, Irma is expected to hit Florida, where Governor Rick Scott said he planned to activate 7,000 National Guard soldiers by Friday and warned that Irma is 'bigger, faster and stronger' than Hurricane Andrew.

Andrew pummeled south Florida 25 years ago and wiped out entire neighborhoods with ferocious winds.

Huge metal objects were flipped over, buildings were flooded and people were left trapped in buildings as the hurricane struck on St Martin

Brute force: Hurricane Irma has wreaked havoc after pummeling exotic Caribbean islands with 185mph winds on its devastating march towards the US east coast. This was the scene on St Martin on Wednesday

US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico as well as the US Virgin Islands and Florida where he said the outlook was 'not good.'

Trump spoke by telephone with the governors of all three areas to assure them of the federal government's support. It means that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies can remove debris and give other services that will largely be paid for by the US government.

A mandatory evacuation is under way in the Florida Keys, Miami's coastal zones and the Georgia coast as Hurricane Irma approaches.

Experts are worried that Irma could rake the entire Florida east coast from Miami to Jacksonville and then head into Savannah, Georgia, and the Carolinas, striking highly populated and developed areas.

'This could easily be the most costly storm in U.S. history, which is saying a lot considering what just happened two weeks ago,' said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

Because of the uncertainty in any forecast this far out, authorities in Miami held off for the time being on ordering any widespread evacuations. The mayor of Miami-Dade County activated the emergency operation center and urged residents to have three days' worth of food and water.

Social media videos show how the hurricane lashed the coastline of Saint Martin overnight with cars submerged in water. This picture is believed to have been taken at the Beach Plaza hotel on the island

The windows of a migrations office are covered with wooden planks due to the imminent arrival of Hurricane Irma in the Dominican Republic, on September 6, 2017 in Santo Doming

Children in a low-income neighborhood carry containers for water as Hurricane Irma slammed across islands in the northern Caribbean on Wednesday, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic September 6, 2017

Members of the Civil Defense make preparations in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as Hurricane Irma slammed across islands in the northern Caribbean, September 6, 2017

Fishermen remove their wooden boat from the sea as a precaution against Hurricane Irma, in the seaside slum of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Wednesday

People buy groceries at a local supermarket in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as Hurricane Irma takes aim at the Caribbean island

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson bunkered down with staff at his private island in the British Virgin Islands to ride out the storm on Wednesday night. His son revealed on social media that the home had been completely destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

British holidaymakers on Caribbean islands have described barricading themselves into hotels and villas as authorities in other areas order mass evacuations.

Alex Woolfall, who is staying on the island of St Maarten, told how he and other holidaymakers huddled in the concrete stairwell of their hotel as the 'apocalyptic' noise of the winds roared outside.

A handout picture released on September 6, 2017 on the twitter account of RCI Guadeloupe shows damage on the French overseas island of Saint-Martin

Police patrol the area as Hurricane Irma slams across islands in the northern Caribbean on Wednesday, in San Juan, Puerto Rico

This was the scene at Port de Gustavia on the island of Saint Barthelemy overnight as the storm started to lash the coastline

He tweeted: 'Still thunderous sonic boom noises outside & boiling in stairwell. Can feel scream of things being hurled against building.'

Experts said Irma was so powerful it was registering on devices designed to detect earthquakes. Scientists picked up the background noise of winds causing trees to move and crashing ocean waves on their earthquake-detecting seismometers.

In addition to Irma, Tropical Storm Jose has now formed behind it in the open Atlantic and is expected to develop into a hurricane. A third tropical storm - Katia - has also formed in the Gulf of Mexico with winds but is expected to stay offshore until Friday morning.

Hurricane Irma roared into the Caribbean with record-setting force early Wednesday, shaking homes and flooding buildings on a chain of small islands along a path to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and eventually south Florida.

Warm water is fuel for hurricanes and Irma was moving over water that was 1.8 degrees warmer than normal. The 79 degree water that hurricanes need went about 250 feet deep, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the private forecasting service Weather Underground.

Four other storms have had winds as strong in the overall Atlantic region, but they were in the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico, which usually have warmer waters. Hurricane Allen hit 190 mph in 1980, while 2005's Wilma, 1988's Gilbert and a 1935 great Florida Keys storm all had 185 mph winds.

Eduardo Soriano of Miami, waits in a line since dawn to purchase plywood sheets at a Home Depot store in North Miami, Florida on Wednesday

Motorists wait in line to fill their vehicles with gas as they prepare for Hurricane Irma on Wednesday in Key Largo, Florida. The Florida Keys are currently under mandatory evacuation

In preparation of Hurricane Irma, residents of Boca Raton line up for propane on Wednesday

Miami residents shopping on Wednesday made sure to load their carts with bottled water and other supplies to last through the storm

An employee restocks bottled water on bare shelves as customers look on at a Publix grocery store on Tuesday in Surfside, Florida

Stocking up: Residents purchase water at BJ Wholesale in preparation for Hurricane Irma on Tuesday in Miami, Florida

Jesse Dewey fills sandbags at a public works site as he prepares for Hurricane Irma, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Casselberry, Florida

Alex, left, and Cynthia Stone, of Maitland, Fla. load plywood on the roof of their vehicle as they prepare for Hurricane Irma, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Orlando, Florida

SURFER, 16, IS KILLED CATCHING WAVE IN BARBADOS A promising young professional surfer has died at the age of 16 while catching a wave in Barbados during Hurricane Irma, the World Surf League said. Zander Venezia, a native of Barbados, reportedly fell off his board and hit a shallow reef at a beach called Box by Box, it said. He and other surfers were riding a swell generated by the Category Five hurricane on Tuesday. An autopsy revealed that the Olympic surfing hopeful was knocked unconscious by the fall from his board and then drowned. Speaking to the magazine Surfline, pro-turned-surf instructor Alan Burke said that Zander was knocked over by a 'closeout set' - a wave that closes in from both sides - and 'likely hit bottom'. Nathan Florence, who was among the group of pro surfers who had flown into Barbados to surf Irma's swell, was the first to get to him and start performing CPR. Sixteen-year-old surfer Zander Venezia was killed surfing in Barbados during Hurricane Irma on Tuesday (pictured above after winning a surf competition last month) 'Zander was bleeding, and he wasn't moving. They tried to get him to the beach quickly, which was very difficult,' Burke said. 'Box by Box is a tough place to get in and out of, even if you have the ability. There's lots of big rocks around, and some stick out of the water.' Burke says Venezia's last words were to fellow surfer Dylan Graves, who he spoke to before catching his final fatal wave. 'He told Dylan, 'I just got the best wave of my life!'' Burke said. 'Dylan was the last person to speak to Zander. Then that next closeout set came through.' Veteran surfer Mark Holder says even he doesn't surf Box by Box during storms. 'That wave only breaks when you have hurricane swells and it breaks in a different direction, so that swell breaks like once in a blue moon. When it is breaking guys go there because it is a beautiful wave, but it is pretty dangerous,' Holder told Barbados TODAY. He added: 'In my 45 years I have never surfed that break, I surf at Soup Bowl and other places around the island but I never surf that break because it is pretty dangerous. The way the waves are coming in today even at Soup Bowl, you have to be on your 'A' game. You must know what you are doing because out here is not easy. If you are not a professional, today is a day you should sit down and watch.' Venezia was surfing a beach on the east coast of Barbados, his home country, on Tuesday when he was knocked over by a wave, lost consciousness and then drowned. Pictured above on a different surfing outing The son of a surfer, Venezia won the Rip Curl Grom Search in the Outer Banks in North Carolina in mid-August, and in April he won the National Scholastic Surfing Association regional championships. He was expected to represent his home country in the 2020 Olympics, the first Olympics to feature surfing as a sport. The Barbados newspaper Nation News called Venezia one of the island's most promising junior surfers. While Barbados wasn't in the eye of Irma's storm, it was left littered with debris on Wednesday after the storm brought high winds and rain to the small island country. The storm blew the roof off of one home, but the inhabitants of that home were not hurt. At least 10 people have died in Irma so far. Advertisement

Hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel of MIT calculates that Irma holds about 7 trillion watts - about twice the energy of all bombs used in World War II.

Floridians seem to be taking hurricane prep seriously.

Stores throughout the state, which has been under a state of emergency since Monday, have already started running out of bottled water and other necessities and gas stations are struggling to keep up with the never ending lines of cars.

Gov. Scott advised his citizens to stock up on what they need but not to go overboard, so that everyone can get the supplies necessary to wait out the storm.

'I'm asking everybody as you get prepared: three days of water per person, three days of food. Take enough, but only take what you need. Don't take more, so we can make sure we take care of all our neighbors,' he said

Several big box stores have activated emergency response protocols, sending truck loads of hurricane preparation items to areas with the greatest need.