Another potentially catastrophic storm has the US on high alert just a fortnight after Hurricane Harvey devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana leaving flooding and damage costs which continue to mount.
And, a third hurricane is also brewing.
Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, is being described as one of the most powerful ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean.
It has moved towards the Caribbean and could threaten Florida later this week with maximum wind speeds of almost 300 kilometres an hour.
With Texas still reeling from Hurricane Harvey’s drenching rain, blamed for at least 60 deaths, authorities in Florida have warned the state to prepare for the worst.
Irma is expected to remain a Category 4 or 5 storm for several days.
If Irma makes US landfall as a Category 4, or higher, it will be the first time two storms of such strength struck the mainland in the same season.
Meanwhile, with attention closely focused on Hurricane Irma, Tropical Storm Jose has also formed in the eastern Atlantic.
Jose is also predicted to intensify into a hurricane, although its path is less likely to be a danger to land.
The US National Hurricane Centre has forecast Irma’s direct impact in Florida by the weekend, describing it as having all the textbook features of an extreme hurricane.
It is almost perfectly symmetrical with a clear eye and considered life-threatening for the US, Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and the south-eastern Bahamas.
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
