On September 8, Hurricane Irma made landfall on Cuba as a destructive Category 5 storm, slowly spinning along its northern coast for hours, before turning north toward Florida. The high winds tore roofs from buildings, uprooted trees, toppled power lines, and blocked roads across central and northern Cuba. Coastal towns and cities were swamped by storm surge waters, leaving parts of Havana submerged as Irma moved on. More than a million residents and tourists had been evacuated ahead of the storm, as a precaution. As of Sunday night, there were no storm-related deaths reported in Cuba.
Hurricane Irma Crashes Across Northern Cuba
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A flooded street near the Malecon in Havana, Cuba, on September 10, 2017. Deadly Hurricane Irma battered central Cuba on Saturday, knocking down power lines, uprooting trees and ripping the roofs off homes as it headed towards Florida. #
Yamil Lage / AFP / Getty -
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Handlers from the Cayo Guillermo dolphinarium prepare dolphins for their transfer to the dolphinarium in Cienfuegos, located on Cuba's southern coast, just hours before the arrival of Hurricane Irma, on September 8, 2017. #
Osvaldo Gutierrez Gomez / ACN via AP -
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A vehicle lies embedded in the shattered Anti Imperialist Tribune building, after it was flung there by the force of Hurricane Irma, just a few meters from the United States Embassy building in Havana, on September 10, 2017. #
Ramon Espinosa / AP -
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