Hurricane Irma puts Florida in danger

The head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) Brock Long has said that Hurricane Irma will “devastate” either Florida or neighbouring states.

Long’s comment comes few weeks after Hurricane Harvey caused havoc in U.S. State of Houston.

He said parts of Florida would be without power for days, and more than 100,000 people may need shelter.

Meanwhile there are reports of serious looting on the hurricane-hit Caribbean island of St Martin.

Hurricane Irma has left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean, affecting an estimated 1.2m people.

It has been downgraded to a category four storm, but officials warn that it remains “extremely dangerous”.

The US National Weather Service says that Irma was expected to bring wind speeds of around 165mph (270km/h) over the weekend.

Some 500,000 people were told to leave south Florida with Irma due on Sunday.

“Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the south-eastern states,” Mr Long said.

“The entire south-eastern United States better wake up and pay attention,” he added.

The death toll rose continued to rise on Friday in the Caribbean, where at least 19 people were killed in the wake of the deadly storm.

France’s Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said nine people were dead and seven missing in the French territory on St Martin, an island shared with the Netherlands, and St Barthélemy, known more commonly as St Barts. Another death has been confirmed in the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten.

French officials there said six out of 10 homes on Saint-Martin were so badly damaged that they were uninhabitable.

The U.S. Consulate General in Curacao said it believes an estimated 6,000 Americans are stranded on St Martin.

French, British and Dutch military authorities have deployed aid – including warships and planes equipped with food, water and troops – to their territories.

Read more: BBC