Hurricane Irma hits Barbuda and heads to Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico - live

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Météo-France 

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St-Martin et St-Barthélémy sont actuellement au cœur de l'ouragan #Irma, avec le passage de l’œil du #cyclone http://www.meteofrance.gp 

3:47 AM - Sep 6, 2017

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Winds of up to 295km (183 miles) per hour were recorded on St 

The most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history made its first landfall in the islands of the northeast Caribbean early Wednesday, churning along a path pointing to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly heading for Florida this weekend.

The eye of Hurricane Irma passed over Barbuda around 1:47 a.m. ET, the National Weather Service said.

Irma's sustained winds of 185 mph inched toward the highest on record: the 190-mph pummeling that Hurricane Allen gave the Caribbean, northern Mexico and southern Texas in 1980.

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Greg Diamond @gdimeweather

Direct hit for Barbuda.
Not on map, but top wind gust of 155 mph recorded before station knocked offline #HurricaneIrma

11:12 PM - Sep 5, 2017

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Officials warned people to seek protection from Irma's "onslaught" in a statement that closed with: "May God protect us all."

Many homes on Barbuda and the neighboring island of Antigua are not built on concrete foundations or have poorly constructed wooden roofs that are susceptible to wind damage.

By 5 a.m. ET, Irma was moving away from Barbuda and toward St. Martin.

The National Weather Service predicted life-threatening hazards and severe damage beginning Wednesday in the U.S. Virgin Islands before the storm passed "near or just north of Puerto Rico this afternoon or tonight."

"You could potentially see some real devastation and destruction to the homes there," said Heather Tesch, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. "Add to that the storm surge and potential flooding, along with some very heavy rains [and] the wind damage — it is going to be a real mess in some of these areas."

Then would come the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and, most likely, Florida, where "folks need to be preparing immediately," Tesch said.

Quentin Liou, a manager at car rental company Hertz on the island of St. Barts, told NBC News that he was watching walls "tremble" as Irma approached.

"The sound is terrifying," he added. "I think when the sunlight will be here we will see a disaster."

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