'Potentially catastrophic' Hurricane Irma nears eastern Caribbean islands

(CNN)As Floridians cleared supermarkets of bottled water and emptied gas pumps, people in the northeastern Caribbean were making last minute-preparations before powerful Hurricane Irma hit their islands.

Late Tuesday, the massive Category 5 storm was almost upon islands like Antigua and Barbuda with near-record 185 mph sustained winds. In its 11 p.m. ET advisory, the US National Hurricane Center said the eye of the hurricane was 50 miles from the two islands.

The center of the storm was moving to the west-northwest at 15 mph.

The hurricane center said the extremely dangerous core of Irma would hit the northern Leeward Islands -- which include Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Anguilla -- Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

It's too early to tell whether the storm will make landfall on the US mainland, but forecasts show it could turn toward Florida over the weekend.

Forecasters' most immediate concerns are for the people of the northeastern Caribbean, the hurricane center's Michael Brennan said.

"Anguilla, all the way toward (Antigua and) Barbuda, all the way up even toward the British Virgin Islands (are) in grave danger of an eye wall hit at (at least) 150 mph -- that devastates the island, no matter what island it is," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said Tuesday.

Those islands are under hurricane warnings, as are Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Martin/St. Maarten, and St. Barts.

One Twitter user in St. Barts posted a photo of rain coming down and winds beginning to sway the leaves of the palm trees Tuesday evening

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com