Hurricane Irma appears to have
broken the weather station on
the Caribbean island of St
Barthelemy (St Barts).
No data has been received from
the station since 9am UTC, the
French Observatory of
Tornadoes and Violent Storms
reported.
The most powerful Atlantic
Ocean hurricane in recorded
history made its first landfall in
the islands of the northeast
Caribbean.It is now churning along a path
pointing to Puerto Rico, the
Dominican Republic, Haiti and
Cuba before possibly heading
for Florida over the weekend.

The eye of Hurricane Irma
passed over Barbuda around
1.47am, the National Weather
Service said. Residents said
over local radio that phone lines
went down. Heavy rain and
howling winds raked the
neighbouring island of Antigua,
sending debris flying as people
huddled in their homes or
government shelters.

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

In Barbuda, the storm ripped off
the roof of the island's police
station forcing officers to seek
refuge in the nearby fire station
and at the community
centre that served as an official
shelter.

The Category 5 storm also
knocked out communication
between islands. Midcie Francis
of the National Office of Disaster
Services confirmed there was
damage to several homes, but
said it was too early to do tally
or assess the extent of the
damage.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hurricane-irma-st-barts-island-weath-station-destroy-caribbean-gulf-mexico-tropical-storm-category-5-a7931881.html