The Atlantic hurricane season rages on . Hurricane Irma is now zipping westwards across the Atlantic and tight draw end the Caribbean . It ’s also reckon more likely that it might affect the US mainland by the conclusion of the week –   far from an ideal office considering this corner of the US is still broom up the wipeout cause by Hurricane Harvey .

This morning , Irma was declare an“extremely dangerous ” Category 5hurricane on the Saffir - Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , just as meteorologistspredicted it might belast week .

TheNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) warnedthe hurricane will be accompany by " life sentence - jeopardise malarkey , violent storm soar upwards , and rainfall " . Its maximal   sustained wind power is expected to peak at 280 klick per hour ( 175 miles per hour ) .

Hurricane Irma is presently skimming across the Atlantic at 22 km / atomic number 1 ( 14 mph ) , where it isforecast to go over the northern Leeward Islands in the West Indies recent Tuesday and other Wednesday .   Hurricane stipulation are expected to hit the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday , with tropical stormconditions begin tonight . Currently , the tempest is several day away from Florida , and not wait to arrive until Saturday .

The hurricane has prompt legion states of parking brake to bedeclared in Florida , Puerto Rico , and the US Virgin Islands , along with other Caribbean islands .

There are alreadynumerousreportson Twitter of shops filled with farsighted queues and empty shelves , as local residents stock up on water , food , assault and battery , author , and other supplies . Many Caribbean islands , especially Puerto Rico , are also perk up themselves for long - term electricity outages .

As for what the scale of the   damage in the Caribbean and US will be , it ’s hard to say just yet . However , expert are concerned that authorities may already be strain dealing with thechaos make by Hurricane Harveyin the retiring few weeks . It seems the last thing that part of the US postulate the right way now is another hurricane .

“ This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast . It also has the potential to significantly tense FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so promptly on the hound of Harvey , ” said Evan Myers , expert senior meteorologist and chief operating officer at AccuWeather , in astatement .

you could give chase the progress of Hurricane Irma on theNOAA ’s National Hurricane Centre online map .