By Sean Breslin From the Weather Channel

Major Damage as Irma Slams Leeward Islands
Small islands suffer under Irma’s blast.
Story Highlights
Islands in the Caribbean made final preparations for the storm Tuesday as Hurricane Irma closed in.

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis ordered a mandatory evacuation of islands in the southern part of the island chain.

Authorities in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico have activated the country’s emergency plan and are warning residents to prepare for Irma.

American Airlines has scheduled the extra flights out of St. Maarten and St. Kitts and Nevis.

With hurricane warnings and watches issued for the Leeward Islands, authorities scrambled to finish preparations Tuesday for the first impacts of Hurricane Irma.

The storm, which has undergone rapid intensification in the past several days, is now the strongest Atlantic hurricane in the last 10 years. A dangerous Category 5, Irma could have severe impacts on Caribbean island nations and possibly the United States.

States of emergency have been declared in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and residents across the Caribbean stocked up on food, water and other essentials.

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis ordered a mandatory evacuation of six islands in the southern part of the island chain. Evacuees will be flown to Nassau on the island of New Providence, according to the Associated Press.

“I note that this is the largest such evacuation in the history of the country,” Minnis said.

Caribbean Islands Brace for Impacts

Additional flights have been added out of two Caribbean islands as Hurricane Irma strengthened to Category 5 Tuesday morning.

American Airlines has scheduled the extra flights out of St. Maarten and St. Kitts and Nevis to Miami ahead of the storm. American also announced that passengers with tickets for Tuesday or Wednesday to destinations in the path of Hurricane Irma can change their tickets without change fees.

The Dutch government sent about 100 marines to St. Maarten to help the island, as well as smaller islands Saba and St. Eustatius, get ready for the storm.

“We’re looking at Irma as a very significant event,” Ronald Jackson, executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, told the Associated Press. “I can’t recall a tropical cone developing that rapidly into a major hurricane prior to arriving in the central Caribbean.”

V.C. Bird International Airport in Antigua announced Tuesday that the airport would close at 4:00 p.m. local time.

Antigua Met Service @anumetservice
#Irma is now gone off the scale – it is now a Cat 5+ with 175 mph sustained winds – may the lord bless our souls http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT1+shtml/050626.shtml …?

Kenneth Mapp, the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, sent a request for an emergency declaration to the White House.

Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Gaston Browne urged residents to prepare for the storm by cleaning drains and removing objects that could become airborne by high winds. Meanwhile, workers pruned trees and shrubs to reduce the risk of branches bringing down power lines, the AP reported.

“I am satisfied that at a governmental level that we have done everything that is humanly possible to mitigate against the effects or the potential effects of this storm,” he told the AP. “What is really required now is for Antiguans and Barbudans … to follow the warnings and to act appropriately so that we do not end up with any serious casualties.”

Officials on Barbuda told the Antigua Observer that all preparations for the storm were completed on the island Tuesday.

“So far, we are intact and ready if the storm decides to come our way,” Tessa Webber, Barbuda’s disaster coordinator, told the Antigua Observer. “I just came out of a meeting with the council, and we are more or less ready. The council building is already secured, and some homes. The council workers are also out there assisting with the removal of debris and other materials.”

In the Dominican Republic, Public Works Minister Gonzalo Castillo said workers are clearing away road works and cleaning blockages from sewers.

Ahed Daas, owner of the Food Center in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, told Reuters that traffic at his store on Monday was about 50 percent higher than normal as people stocked up on water, canned products and batteries.

“It’s kind of dwindling down now, everybody’s pretty much stocked up,” Daas said. “You make sure you have fuel in your generator and hope it’s not that bad when it does arrive.”

On Anguilla, a British island territory home to about 15,000 people, four shelters were opened even though residents usually stay with friends and family to ride out tropical systems, disaster management agency director Melissa Meade told the AP.

Eleven cruise ships across five lines have been forced to change itineraries and shore excursions have been canceled due to the approach of Hurricane Irma, Cruise Critic reported.

Puerto Rico Declares State of Emergency

Authorities in Puerto Rico have activated the in U.S. territory’s emergency plan and are warning residents to prepare for the major hurricane, which could hit the island as early as Wednesday.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló has declared a state of emergency and said Tuesday that he has asked President Donald Trump to declare a federal state of emergency for the island.

“The decisions that we make in the next couple of hours can make the difference between life and death,” said Rosselló. “This is an extremely dangerous storm.”

Led by the Puerto Rico State Agency for Emergency and Disaster Management, agencies are making funds available in advance of the storm.

Glorimar Andújar, the secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Family Affairs, said $65 million was released for the Nutrition Assistance Program, while 5.4 million pounds of contingency food was identified for some 160,000 people. The Puerto Rico Housing secretary, Fernando Gil, said 456 shelters with a capacity for 62,100 people have been readied.

Officials with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority have inspected main transmission lines and trimmed trees in critical areas in an effort to reduce power outages.

“It’s no secret that the infrastructure of the Puerto Rico Power Authority is deteriorated,” Rossello told reporters.

The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has activated the flood control plan and meetings between agencies are ongoing.

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