Photo: AFPBoston: Hurricane Irma was strengthening ahead of an all-but-certain collision with southern Florida after devastating the Caribbean islands and threatening to become the most expensive storm in US history. Now a Category 4 system, Irma is forecast to regain power through Sunday when it may reach Category 5 again, the US national hurricane center said late Friday. It has already left at least 21 people dead, thousands homeless across the Caribbean and threatens to rack up as much as $200 billion in damages. Damages could easily top $135 billion in Florida, with other economic losses pushing the price tag as high as $200 billion, Watson said. Irma was 315 miles southeast of Miami and is forecast to approach the north coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas before striking southern Florida Sunday morning, the hurricane center said.

Source: Mint September 09, 2017 05:03 UTC