Electric company officials in Florida have planned for the worst and are likely to shut the nuclear plants in Turkey Point and St Lucie.

In anticipation of Hurricane Irma, Florida governor Rick Scott has announced that the state is working with Google’s emergency response team to mark closed roads on Google Maps in real time. This will help with evacuation plans.

As the worst of Hurricane Irma departed Antigua and Barbuda's reef-ringed beaches early Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Gaston Browne boasted that “no other country in the Caribbean would have been as well prepared as we were.”

With massive evacuations expected for parts of southern Florida as Hurricane Irma approaches, people hoping to flee the Sunshine State ahead of the powerful storm may be finding it's not only a challenge but expensive.

Initial observations from Four Seasons Resort Nevis, the islands largest resort, reports that the resort is in excellent shape and all areas are generally dry.

Antigua has successfully coped with Hurricane Irma, defying the worst predictions of disaster. There was no loss of life.