Flooded roads limiting access to cyclone ravaged towns and cities.
In a sign of the scale of destruction, three people have died and more than 1,000 people have been displaced in the worst-hit areas, according to an official in the area.
Some 2,000 people were already sheltering in homes in areas under the protection of the army and coastguard.
But those who are still in the area said many houses were still without electricity and there were many families without running water or safe shelter.
The storm is the biggest in decades, killing at least 543 people – or one in five inhabitants of the coastal province of Antigua and Barbuda.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption A man rests in the shelter in Caracol during the storm, which is expected to pass through the region later today
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The storm has killed at least 543 people, according to the UN
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The hurricane may reach the French island of Guadeloupe by 7pm (GMT)
Analysis: James Reynolds, BBC News
Antigua and Barbuda is in the heart of Caribbean shipping, but it was on its coastline when Hurricane Felix devastated most of its coasts in 2012.
But now the Atlantic’s superstorm is heading for the coast of the Caribbean and the whole of Guadeloupe. The US is taking precautions and, when the storm hits, it should be relatively safe until later. But Antigua and Barbuda has a very long history.
It was hit hardest in the 11th century by the first major hurricane, and only now are people beginning to recognise how much damage Hurricane Felix – the most devastating hurricane ever to hit the northern hemisphere – did.
The island was hit hardest by the Hurricane Felix, killing nearly 1,000 people and causing widespread devastation. People and ships were driven from the coast and the surrounding islands became uninhabitable for months.
The UK has been hit b샌즈 카지노y storms so close to the UK so often before that there are no official statistics, but the worst known British storm in 1772 was just before Christmas when several islands were inundated, killing 1,700 and affecti블랙 잭ng 40 people.
The latest storm is expected to make landfall in the우리 카지노 Caribbean late today or later, and will be even harder to predict as the intensity and duration of the storm vary over a day.
On its way to the Atlantic, Hurricane Irma has been on track for a passage through the area but is likely to hav
