record-breaking hurricane is causing death and destruction as it passes through  Caribbean and heads towards  U.S. state of Florida. On Thursday, Hurricane Irma caused major devastation across  Caribbean islands of Barbuda, St. Martin, Anguilla and  British Virgin Islands.  Prime Minister of Barbuda, Gaston Browne, said about 95 per cent of  buildings on  island had suffered some damage. He said: "It's absolute devastation. The island is literally under water….Barbuda is barely habitable."  government official for St Martin said: "There is massive destruction. We'll concentrate our first efforts so that in  next hours, people can get access to food and drinking water."
Hurricane Irma is  category 5 storm –  strongest on  1-5 scale of hurricanes. It is  second strongest hurricane ever to be recorded and  strongest ever recorded east of  Caribbean Sea. Irma has kept  wind speed close to 300kph for more than 24 hours. This is  longest period ever recorded. Meteorologists said Hurricane Irma was over 1,200km wide. It is likely to become  Category 4 hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida on Saturday morning. Florida officials have already ordered  mandatory evacuation of Florida Keys -  southern part of  state of Florida. Residents there are bracing themselves for winds of up to 300kph and massive and damaging storm surges.