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Caribbean islands suffer huge damage after Irma – as it happened
Most powerful hurricane ever recorded over Atlantic Ocean batters Barbuda, St Martin and Puerto Rico as it moves west with category 5 winds and rains
This live blog has ended. Follow the latest developments on Hurricane Irma here
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Matthew Weaver (now), and Sam Levin, Jamiles Lartey and Claire Phipps (earlier)
Thursday 7 September 2017 14.37 BST First published on Wednesday 6 September 2017 04.51 BST
Key events
2.37pm
We’re closing this live blog now. You can follow the latest developments on Hurricane Irma here.
Hurricane Irma: massive damage across Caribbean as death toll rises to 10 – live
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2.32pm
Florida’s governor Rick Scott has urged coastal residents to heed evacuation orders.
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2.19pm
What we know so far
Hurricane Irma, still a category five storm with sustained wind speeds of 180mph (290kph) is passing near the Dominican Republic and Haiti as it heads to the Bahamas where warnings have been extended to more areas.
Ten people are so far reported to have died as the hurricane ripped through the Caribbean: a two-year-old in Barbuda, one person in Anguilla, and eight in the French part of St Martin. It is feared the death toll will rise.
Hurricane watches are likely be issued for parts of Florida later today. Mandatory evacuations have been issued to residents in coastal areas of Florida. Donald Trump tweeted that “great teams of talented and brave people” are already in place.
Massive damage has been reported across the Caribbean islands already savaged by the storm, with homes and critical facilities flattened, power failures and communications down.
On Barbuda, the prime minister, Gaston Browne, said 90% of buildings had been destroyed and 50% of the population was homeless. He blamed the carnage on global warming and criticised world leaders who deny climate change. He also said he was considering ordering residents of Barbuda to evacuate if a second Hurricane, Jose, is forecast to hit the island in the coming days.
The French part of St Martin was “95% destroyed”, according to Daniel Gibb, a local official. Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said there had been “enormous material damage” to the Dutch-administered south of the island, St Maarten.
France has sent an emergency team and supplies to St Martin and St Barthélemy (St Barts), both French overseas collectivities. The Dutch government has deployed 100 marines to St Maarten, and two military aircraft.
The UK government has made £12m available and deployed a naval ship to the area, after being criticised for its slow response to the hurricane. Ministers were due to hold a a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee.
States of emergency are in place across the Caribbean, including in the Barbuda, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the most recent island to be hit with high winds and drenching rain.
Two-thirds of the population of Puerto Rico is without power and 17% of people are without water.
Bahamas prime minister Hubert Minnis said his government was evacuating people from six islands in the south to the capital, Nassau, in the largest storm evacuation in the Bahamas’ history.
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2.07pm
Donald Trump has tried to reassure the people of Florida by tweeting that “great teams of talented and brave people” are “already in place and ready to help”.
A hurricane warning for parts of Florida is expected to be issued later today and some coastal areas have been evacuated. Irma is expected to hit Florida on Sunday.
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1.54pm
The Dutch military has posted images of some of the marines being deployed to St Maarten.
The Dutch defence ministry had stationed two naval vessels in the area before the storm hit. It is equipped with a helicopter and supplies, while two military planes and at least 100 soldiers are also involved in aid efforts.
“The priority now is to bring emergency aid to the people... consisting of sending food and water to 40,000 people over the coming five days,” Dutch Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said.
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1.46pm
Here’s the full text of Alan Duncan’s statement in which he promised £12m of aid, the deployment of Navy ship RFA Mounts Bay, and aid flights on standby.
UK could send further ship to overseas territories hit by Hurricane Irma
Updated at 1.48pm BST
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1.41pm
Red alert hurricane warnings are in place for 17 provinces in the Dominican Republic. A further 12 yellow warnings are in place for 12 provinces.
The centre of the hurricane moved away from the northern coast of the Dominican Republic earlier today.
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1.14pm
More than two thirds of homes in Puerto Rico are still without electricity, and 17% are without water, officials have revealed.
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1.04pm
The aid charity Oxfam estimates that up to three million people could be affected by Irma in Haiti as it due to pass north of Hispaniola.
Some people in coastal areas of Haiti have ignored orders to evacuate, according to Oxfam’s Tania Escamilla who is Cap Haitien – Haiti’s second city.
She said: “I get the sense that people here are used to hurricanes and no-one seems frantically scared, but I’ve heard from many that some areas of the country haven’t even fully recovered from Hurricane Matthew last year – and now they’re facing this.
“While many are moving, there are quite a few people who have decided not to evacuate but to stay put instead, fearing to lose their belongings and home.”
“We fear that half-a-million people could be affected even in the best-case scenario – or as many as 3 million in the worst”.
A man repairs part of his roof in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Irma in Lauriers neighbourhood of Cap-Haitien Photograph: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images
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12.31pm
Residents of Barbuda describe the destruction caused by Hurricane Irma in this video.
'Cars flew over our heads': Hurricane Irma survivors recount the havoc - video
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Hurricane Irma
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