Caribbean, Florida Brace for Hurricane Irma

Antigua's airport has closed with an ominous statement from local authorities as Hurricane Irma approaches the Caribbean island.

The statement from the V.C. Bird International Airport says it is shutting down Tuesday and advises all visitors and residents of the two-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda to seek protection from the "onslaught" of the Category 5 storm.

The center of the storm was expected to start passing north of Antigua and near or over Barbuda on Tuesday night.

St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, the U.S, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are among the Caribbean islands also preparing for Irma's arrival.

American Airlines has added extra flights out of St. Maarten and St. Kitts, in addition to regularly scheduled flights Tuesday and Wednesday to Miami, to evacuate travelers. Both islands are part of the northern Leeward Islands and are under a hurricane warning as Irma approached the region Tuesday.

Officials in the Florida Keys are gearing up to get tourists and residents out of the possible path.

Monroe County spokeswoman Cammy Clark said that a mandatory evacuation for tourists will begin at sunrise Wednesday. An evacuation plan for residents is also under way but a timetable hasn't been determined.

Clark says government offices, parks and schools will close and there will be no shelters in Monroe County. The county's three hospitals are also beginning evacuation plans.

U.S. 1 is only route in and out of the island chain off the southern peninsula of Florida. Clark says residents and tourists should begin filling their tanks with fuel to prepare to drive to the mainland.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is activating 100 members of the Florida National Guard to prepare for Irma.

Scott said that the initial 100 troops will be stationed throughout the state. Some 7,000 National Guard members will report to duty Friday, when the storm could be bearing down on Florida.

Scott said Tuesday that the exact path of the storm is still unknown but officials "must prepare for the worst."

On Monday, he declared a state of emergency in all of Florida's 67 counties. Two hurricanes hit the state last year but neither was as powerful as Category 5 Irma is right now.

Source: The Associated Press