MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Enrique Pena Nieto took to Twitter to express support for Cubans on Saturday.
"Mexico expresses its consistent support and solidarity with the Cuban people, who currently face the force of hurricane #Irma," Nieto posted on his Twitter.
México expresa su invariable respaldo y solidaridad con el pueblo de Cuba que en estos momentos enfrenta la fuerza del huracán #Irma.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) 9 сентября 2017 г.
Irma descended on the Caribbean islands on Wednesday, striking St Barthelemy and St Martin. On Friday, the hurricane made landfall in the Camaguey Archipelago in Cuba's north-east as a category five storm and continued towards Florida.
The damage caused by the hurricane is significant. Irma hit the Camaguey Archipelago with nearly 160 miles per hour winds as local authorities and US-based media report.
The hurricane will bring storm surges reaching up to 12 feet in Florida’s southwest, as well as heavy rainfalls through Tuesday night of up to 20 inches, which may cause life-threatening flash floods.
#Hurricane #Irma: Storms could eventually make some islands uninhabitable https://t.co/c1DbESuj4N We talk to Dr. Richard Allan @UniRdg_News pic.twitter.com/fyAE5DFIVC
— Sputnik UK (@SputnikNewsUK) 8 сентября 2017 г.
Irma is the most intense hurricane to hit the Atlantic over the past decade. Nonetheless, the US National Hurricane Center said the hurricane had weakened to a category 4 storm.
On Friday the storm caused floods and heavy rains on Saint Martin Island. Some 900,000 people were left without power in Puerto Rico due to the disaster.
At least eight people have been killed by Hurricane Irma in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe.
The Virgin Islands, divided between the US and Great Britain, were also caught in the storm.
