The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Irma had sustained winds of 175 mph and was centered about 270 miles east of Antigua. It was moving west at 14 mph.
Irma’s center was expected to move near or over the northern Leeward Islands late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the hurricane center said. The eye was then expected to pass about 50 miles from Puerto Rico late Wednesday.
Authorities warned that the storm could dump up to 10 inches of rain, cause landslides and flash floods and generate waves of up to 23 feet. Government officials began evacuations and urged people to finalize all preparations as shelves emptied out across islands including Puerto Rico.
“This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast. It also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of Harvey,” Evan Myers, chief operating officer of AccuWeather, said in a statement.
Cruise lines have changed multiple itineraries to move cruises out of the projected path of Hurricane Irma, currently approaching the Lesser Antilles.
The most common change is to convert an eastern Caribbean itinerary into a western Caribbean cruise. On its sailing that departed Sunday, for example, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas will call at Cozumel, Falmouth and Labadee instead of Nassau, San Juan and St Maarten as originally scheduled.