The Caribbean is on high alert as Hurricane Irma continues to bear down on several islands churning west towards the US mainland. <br /><br />With winds of up to 220 kilometers per hour the increasingly menacing storm has now been upgraded to a powerful category four. That has raised fears it could be even stronger than Hurricane Harvey, which recently devastated large parts of Texas. <br /><br />Irma’s exact path is still unclear, but she is expected to hit the Leeward Islands first, before moving on to Puerto Rico and US and British Virgin Islands. <br /><br />The storm is then predicted to turn its wrath on Florida, where a state of emergency has already been declared. <br /><br />The US National Hurricane Center has said Irma is likely to strengthen even further in the next 48 hours.<br /><br />Officials are warning of up to 25 cm of rainfall in some northern areas.<br /><br />Both Texas and Louisiana are still reeling from the flooding inflicted by Harvey last month. It dumped several metres of rain, destroying thousands of homes and businesses.<br />
