PARIS (AFP) – Hurricane Irma has already caused “major damage” on several Caribbean islands, French Overseas Territories Minister Annick Girardin said in Paris yesterday. The Category Five hurricane slammed into the islands of Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin after first making landfall on the island of Barbuda to the southeast, with the French weather office saying: “These islands are suffering major impacts.” The French weather office said it had caused major flooding in low-lying areas and coastlines were being “battered extremely violently” by the sea, it said. As Irma approached St Bart, the office measured winds of 244kph, but its monitoring equipment has since been destroyed by the hurricane.

• Tags: Annick Girardin, Barbuda, Caribbean, Hurricane Irma, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin