Hurricane Irma approaches islands, streets blank

philipsburg/rijswijk - The powerful Hurricane Irma draws on the Caribbean on Wednesday. According to Weatherplaza, the hurricane will soon be the first to hit Barbuda. The island belonging to the state of Antigua and Barbuda will be 'full hit', expects meteorologist Marco Verhoef. In Philipsburg on Sint Maarten the streets are already blank due to the rain preceding the hurricane.

It's already blowing hard on the island. The population is massive and waits. The authorities have forbidden anyone to enter the street.

Watch live: Irma is heading towards Sint Maarten

The hurricane of category 5 will travel around 13:30 at Dutch time along St. Maarten, expect Weatherplaza. Irma stretches about 10 kilometers from the island, one of which is a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The other half belongs to France.