Hurricane Irma was a monster storm — one of the most powerful ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean — and it left a path of destruction as it swept through the Caribbean and into Florida. Its torrential rains and unrelenting winds pummeled the small islands of Barbuda and St. Martin before strafing Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba. The deadly storm tore down houses, flooded residential areas and left hundreds of thousands without power. Irma then landed on the Gulf Coast of Florida, battering the Keys and slamming into Marco Island and Naples before traveling through the state and affecting Georgia and the Carolinas. There have been widespread evacuations, power outages and flooding across southern Florida. Here are images of the storm’s widespread impact on millions of people.
(Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
A car that was swept off the road into a canal remains submerged in Lehigh Acres, Fla., on Sept. 13. Locals said the driver escaped by exiting through the kicked-out back window. Many homes are still without power in the area.
(David Goldman/AP)
Nineve Desronvil, 20, and her brother Jeffrey, 8, wade through a flooded street beside their home in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 13, trying to catch fish.
(Alan Diaz/AP)
A view of the destruction on Sept. 13 in Big Pine Key, Fla.
Cpl. Timothy Jones/British Defense Ministry/European Pressphoto Agency/EFE
A British Royal Marine clears debris near a hospital in Anguilla on Sept. 13. Military personnel from Barbados are helping with recovery efforts and assessing the worst-hit areas.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
A scrap yard full of vehicles in Callahan, Fla., is covered by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Sept 12.
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News
People carry items through a flooded street in Bonita Springs, Fla., on Sept. 12. Irma smashed into southern Florida as a Category 4 storm, driving a wall of water and violent winds ashore and marking the first time since 1964 that the United States was hit by back-to-back major hurricanes.
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
People stand outside a house surrounded by floodwaters in Callahan on Sept 12.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Cherie Ethier sits in her mobile home with her pets, surrounded by floodwaters, in the Marco Naples RV Resort in Naples, Fla., on Sept. 12.
(AFP PHOTO / Martin BUREAUMARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images)
(Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
The aftermath of Hurricane Irma as seen at the Sunshine Key RV Resort and Marina from the air on Sept. 11 over the Florida Keys.
Gary Lloyd McCullough/Florida Times-Union/AP
A house slides into the Atlantic Ocean in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., on Sept. 11.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A man returns to his flooded home in Bonita Springs, Fla., on Sept. 11.
John Raoux/AP
A patient is evacuated by boat from the St. Vincent's Medical Center after floodwaters from Irma covered the first floor of the hospital in Jacksonville, Fla. on Sept. 11, 2017.
Day: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Ramon Espinosa/AP
People move through flooded streets in Havana on Sunday after Hurricane Irma passed through. The powerful storm ripped roofs off houses, collapsed buildings and flooded hundreds of miles of coastline. Cuban officials warned residents to watch for more flooding over the next few days.
(Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Mia Herman has an acquaintance take a photo of her sitting on a fire hydrant on a flooded street in Miami as Irma hits the area on Sunday.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Floodwaters begin to rise as Irma arrives in Bonita Springs, Fla.
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Wind blows trees as Irma arrives in Naples, Fla. on Sunday. Irma's eye passed through Naples late Sunday afternoon.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
A couple walk their dogs on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa on Sunday. Tampa residents were fleeing the evacuation zones ahead of Irma's arrival.
(Rob O'Neal For The Washington Post)
Tati Roberts of Key West, Fla., retreats from the Higgs Beach pier Saturday. Tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Irma began hitting the lower Florida Keys about 2 p.m.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Miami skyline is seen as the outer bands of Hurricane Irma start to reach Florida on Saturday in Miami. Most of the state is in the path of the storm, which was expected to come ashore as a Category 4.
(AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)
Residents walk near downed power lines felled by Hurricane Irma on Saturday in Caibarien, Cuba. There were no reports of deaths or injuries after heavy rain and winds from Irma lashed the northeastern part of the country. Seawater surged three blocks inland in Caibarien.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
A car drives along an empty highway in Miami before the arrival of Hurricane Irma in South Florida.
(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Hundreds of people gather in an emergency shelter at the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center on Friday ahead of Hurricane Irma. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) warned that all of the state's 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate as Hurricane Irma bears down for a direct hit on the state.
David Goldman/AP
A man walks along the beach at sunrise ahead of Hurricane Irma in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Friday. Coastal residents around South Florida have been ordered to evacuate as the killer storm closes in on the peninsula for what could be a catastrophic blow.
(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
Personal papers and notebooks recovered from a flooded home are spread out on a cot in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, on Friday. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet.
(REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado)
A man secures boats in Puerto Plata as Hurricane Irma moves off from the northern coast of the Dominican Republic on Thursday.
Gerben van Es/Dutch Defense Ministry/European Pressphoto Agency/EFE
Damage caused by Hurricane Irma in Philipsburg, St. Martin, on Thursday. Dutch military and civilian emergency services arrived at the island territory to help after Hurricane Irma left a path of destruction on St. Martin and in the Caribbean.
Day: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Jose Jimenez/Getty Images
A rescue team from the local emergency management agency inspects flooded areas after the passing of Hurricane Irma as a Category 5 storm on Wednesday in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
(Gerben Van Es/Dutch Defense Ministry via AP)
Damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Wednesday in St. Martin. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean, leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees.
Gerben van Es/Dutch Defense Ministry/AP
A few of the homes that remained intact in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in St. Martin on Wednesday. Significant damage was reported on the island, which is split between French and Dutch control.
(EPA-EFE/GERBEN VAN ES / DUTCH DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE / HANDOUT)
An aerial view of the damage caused by Hurricane Irma in Philipsburg on Wednesday. Hurricane Irma was declared the most powerful hurricane ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean.
Editor's picks:
Graphic: Tracking Irma
What's in the path of the big, fast storm speeding toward Florida