Thousands face uphill battle to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma is now a Tropical Depression but the storm continues on its destructive path through the United States. 

At least nine people are dead after the storm battered the states of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. 

Millions of people remain without power as damage assessments continue. 

TRT World's Tetiana Anderson has more.

Irma was ranked Category 5, the rare top-end of the scale of hurricane intensity, for days. 

The hurricane carried maximum sustained winds of up to 295 kph when it crashed into Barbuda island on Wednesday. 

Its ferocity as it bore down on hurricane-prone Florida prompted one of the largest evacuations in US history.

Some 6.5 million people, about a third of the state's population, had been ordered to evacuate southern Florida. Residents fled to shelters, hotels or relatives in safer areas.

Police in Miami-Dade County and Fort Lauderdale reported making 48 arrests for looting.

Giles Gibson has more. 

Many of the evacuation orders extended until at least Monday, due in part to flooding, massive power outages and downed electric lines, leaving residents unable to return to their homes to survey any damage.

High winds snapped power lines and left about four million Florida homes and businesses without power in the state. Florida's economy represents about five percent of US gross domestic product.

Miami International Airport, one of the busiest in the country, halted passenger flights through until Monday.

Cuba

At least 10 people were killed in Cuba by Hurricane Irma, most of them crushed by collapsing buildings, authorities said on Monday, bringing the death toll from the ferocious storm to 39 in the Caribbean.

TRT World's Arabella Munro reports.