Irma leaves at least 8 dead in French Caribbean

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS

At least eight people were killed in French Caribbean territories by Hurricane Irma, with three deaths elsewhere, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on Thursday.

Speaking on France Info radio, Collomb said the death toll is likely to rise once rescue teams get access to damaged areas and finish their inspection of the Caribbean islands of St. Martin and Saint Barthelemy or St. Barts.

Irma -- packing 297 kilometers-per-hour (185 an hour) winds and gusts -- struck the northeast Caribbean with terrifying force Wednesday before bearing down on islands farther west.

Collomb later told a press conference the priority is to provide food and water to people affected by the hurricane and get the electricity back.

"The French airport was not destroyed, the Dutch yes," he added, speaking of St. Martin, which is divided between France and the Netherlands.

Some 40,000 people live on the French side of the island, and about the same number on the Dutch side.

A total of around 9,000 people live on St. Barts, and most were left without shelter.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the islands affected "as soon as possible", according to an Elysee statement.

French Overseas Territories Minister Annick Girardin arrived on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe on Wednesday evening to evaluate the situation.

Daniel Gibbs, chairman of a local council on St. Martin, said late Wednesday that the island was "95 percent destroyed. I am in shock."

U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasters warned on Wednesday that the storm, already one of the most powerful and destructive storms ever recorded, was "potentially catastrophic.”

Turkish Airlines adds flights to get jump on storm

With Irma on track to possibly hit the U.S. state of Florida this weekend, closing airports, Turkey's flag carrier has scheduled additional flights to and from Miami for Thursday, ahead of the expected landfall.

"Additional flights have been scheduled for 11.30 a.m. in Istanbul and 9 p.m. in Miami on Sept. 7," said the Turkish Airlines press office.

Irma is currently tied as the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Irma comes after a week of torrential rain and flash floods caused by Hurricane Harvey devastated the city of Houston in the southern state of Texas.

* Izzet Taskiran and Selcuk Acar contributed to this story from Istanbul.