HAVANA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Irma, a powerful category 4 storm, made landfall in the central Cuban province of Camaguey late Friday, said Jose Rubiera, the island's top weather forecaster on the Cuban state TV.
According to the expert, hurricane Irma remained on Friday night a strong category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of 250 km/h and now moves west at 15 km/h.
With this movement, the storm is most likely to impact Cuba's northern territories early Saturday.
Later on, it is expected to make a northwest turn and head to the U.S. state of Florida for a direct hit on Sunday.
The nation's Civil Defense decided to place some of the island's western provinces under hurricane warning, including the capital Havana, which could be affected with heavy rains and coastal floods as well as tropical storm force winds.
Over 700,00 Cubans had been evacuated from coastal areas to inland and homes were protected to diminish damages.
Irma is considered the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. On its path through the Caribbean, it has turned tourist islands into emergency zones.
