At over 420 miles wide, Hurricane Irma was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. As it churned its way from the Antilles to the continental United States—while maintaining imposing force throughout—Irma left behind a trail of destruction. It grew to a scale-topping Category 5 storm on Tuesday, September 5th—making it the second major hurricane to threaten land in the past two weeks—and brought catastrophic damage to Barbuda , the Antilles, Puerto Rico, and Cuba before pummeling the continental United States.
It will be days before we can take account of the full scope of Irma’s wrath, but glimpses from social media give us some idea. Here are a few of the most striking images of Hurricane Irma being shared across the web.
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, the BBC’s Laura Bickler visited the island of Barbuda to report on the damage.
A Delta flight takes off from San Juan ahead of Hurricane Irma.
The outer wall of Hurricane Irma hits Marco Island, Florida.
Hurricane Irma sucked water out of Florida’s Sarasota Bay, beaching a manatee.
The streets of downtown Miami as rivers.
Brikell Avenue in downtown Miami during Irma’s storm surge.
The waters around Fort Myers Beach Pier completely receded.
Tropical Storm Irma brings high winds and severe flooding to downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
The clean-up of Miami begins.
The morning after on Fisher Island, Florida.
Satellite images from NASA show Hurricane Irma turning the Caribbean islands brown.
Above: What power outages looked like in South Florida during Hurricane Irma. Bottom: What South Florida looks like on a “normal” evening.