Irma kills at least eight in Caribbean islands

At least eight people have been killed in the Caribbean as Hurricane Irma tore through the region on Sunday.

At least one person was killed on the island of Barbuda, according to its prime minister, and at least six people have been killed in the French part of the island St Martin, Guadeloupe prefect Eric Maire said on Wednesday.

"This is not the final toll. We sadly risk further discoveries," Maire told journalists. 

Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, told the BBC that about half of Barbuda's population of some 1,800 were homeless while nine out of 10 buildings had suffered some level of devastation, many of them total destruction.

"We flew into Barbuda only to see total carnage. It was easily one of the most emotionally painful experiences that I have had," Browne said in an interview on BBC Radio Four.

The previous toll given by France's overseas ministry was two dead and two seriously injured on the eastern Caribbean islands St Barts and St Martin.

TRT World 's  Alexi-Noelle has the story.                  

French President Emmanuel Macron, after chairing a crisis meeting at the interior ministry in Paris, warned that the toll would be "harsh and cruel" and that damage on the two islands was "considerable."

"A national reconstruction plan will be implemented as soon as possible," Macron said, adding that an emergency fund to finance it would be set up.

Girardin was to fly to the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe late Wednesday with emergency teams and supplies to assess the situation, the ministry said.

St Martin ("Sint Maarten" in Dutch), located south of the island of Anguilla, is divided between the Netherlands and France.

St Barts ("Saint Barthelemy" in French), which lies to the southeast of St Martin, is administered with the status of a French collectivity, as is the French part of St Martin.

TRT World spoke with Sandra Morales, spokesperson for the Municipality of Gurabo, Eastern Puerto Rico about preparations for Irma. 

Damage in Barbuda estimated at $150 million

The "absolute devastation" wrought by Hurricane Irma to the Caribbean island of Barbuda has caused estimated damages of some $150 million, Gaston Browne, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said on Wednesday.

"This rebuilding initiative will take years," Browne told local television after a visit to the island, where he confirmed at least one person had died due to the storm.

After Irma battered the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, emergency officials reported three injuries and minimal damage, with some roofs blown off. Prime Minister Gaston Browne said flights would resume from the airport Wednesday afternoon.

US prepares itself for the storm

The US Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday it will not conduct non-criminal immigration enforcement operations in areas affected by Hurricane Irma, which is barreling through the Caribbean and is forecast to hit Florida this weekend.

"When it comes to rescuing people in the wake of Hurricane Irma, immigration status is not and will not be a factor," the department said in a statement.

In Florida, gasoline stations around struggled to keep up with demand from customers anxious to fill tanks as Hurricane Irma approached, with some locations running out of supply on Wednesday.

Some convenience stores are out of fuel as delivery trucks wait three to four hours to get cargoes from Port Everglades, the main supply source for the southern part of the state, said Ned Bowman, executive director at the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, which represents 98 percent of fuel sold in Florida.

"We're normally not even super busy at our pumps, and there are people parked behind each other right now, waiting," said Eli Brito, shift manager of a RaceTrac station in Orlando that was out of regular fuel on Wednesday after waiting four hours for delivery on Tuesday.

Deliveries in the southern part of the state have been slowed by heavy traffic as residents evacuate.

Luxury Trump properties potentially under threat from storm

The storm also threatens the properties of climate change-denying president Donald Trump, who owns luxury properties on the Caribbean and Florida.

The situation was being closely monitored on St Martin and at a number of Trump properties in Florida, Trump Organization spokesperson Amanda Miller told Reuters in a statement.

"Our teams at the Trump properties in Florida are taking all of the proper precautions and following local and Florida state advisories very closely to ensure that everyone is kept safe and secure," Miller said.

While Irma's exact trajectory remained uncertain, Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, which has been called the "winter White House" and valued by Forbes at $175 million, could also take a hit.

Jose upgraded to hurricane

Meanwhile, tropical storm Jose in the Atlantic Ocean has been upgraded to hurricane status, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

Jose was 1,040 miles (1,675 kilometres) east of the Lesser Antilles and packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometres per hour), the NHC said. 

It was considered a Category One hurricane on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale.

Forecasters have also upgraded tropical storm Katia in Gulf of Mexico to a hurricane.