Speech
Hurricane Irma
First of all, what is a Hurricane?
A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, which is a generic term for a low pressure system that generally forms in the tropics. The cyclone is accompanied by thunderstorms and, in the Northern Hemisphere, a counterclockwise circulation of winds near the earth's surface.
Hurricane Irma:
Hurricane Irma is blasting up the west coast of Florida after buffeting the city of Miami, with dangerous flooding along long stretches of coast.
President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration and emergency federal aid for Florida, describing the hurricane as a "big monster".
Irma cut a devastating track across 10 Caribbean countries and territories, killing at least 28 people there.
Where is the storm now? (Date of 11-09-17)
At 06:00 GMT, the centre of the hurricane was about 25 miles (40km) north-east of Tampa, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Some 3m people live in the Tampa Bay area. The region has not been hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Irma is expected to weaken into a tropical storm over far northern Florida or southern Georgia later on Monday but first its centre will continue to move over the western Florida peninsula.
How have residents felt the impact?
Media reports say a man was killed on Saturday in the Keys when his truck crashed into a tree as the outer bands of the storm arrived.
There are fears of further casualties in the Middle and Upper Keys.
Some 6.3 million people in the state were told to evacuate before the storm.
Which other areas have already been hit?
Irma is the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, and has already caused widespread destruction on several Caribbean islands:
Cuba: Officials have talked of "significant damage", without giving further details, but no casualties have
been reported. Electricity is out across the capital, Havana.
St Martin and St Barthelemy: Six out of 10 homes on St Martin, an island shared between France and the
Netherlands, are now uninhabitable, French officials say. They said nine people had died and seven were
missing in the French territories, while four are known to have died in Dutch Sint Maarten.
Turks and Caicos Islands: Widespread damage, although extent unclear.
Barbuda: The small island is said to be "barely habitable", with 95% of the buildings damaged. Antigua and
Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne estimates reconstruction will cost $100m (£80m). One death
has been confirmed
Anguilla: Extensive damage with one person confirmed dead.
Puerto Rico: More than 6,000 residents of the US territory are in shelters and many more without power. At. least three people have died.
British Virgin Islands: Widespread damage reported, and five dead.
US Virgin Islands: Damage to infrastructure was said to be widespread, with four deaths confirmed.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Both battered by the storm, but neither had as much damage as initially
feared.
First of all, what is a Hurricane?
A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, which is a generic term for a low pressure system that generally forms in the tropics. The cyclone is accompanied by thunderstorms and, in the Northern Hemisphere, a counterclockwise circulation of winds near the earth's surface.
Hurricane Irma:
Hurricane Irma is blasting up the west coast of Florida after buffeting the city of Miami, with dangerous flooding along long stretches of coast.
President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration and emergency federal aid for Florida, describing the hurricane as a "big monster".
Irma cut a devastating track across 10 Caribbean countries and territories, killing at least 28 people there.
Where is the storm now? (Date of 11-09-17)
At 06:00 GMT, the centre of the hurricane was about 25 miles (40km) north-east of Tampa, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Some 3m people live in the Tampa Bay area. The region has not been hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Irma is expected to weaken into a tropical storm over far northern Florida or southern Georgia later on Monday but first its centre will continue to move over the western Florida peninsula.
How have residents felt the impact?
Media reports say a man was killed on Saturday in the Keys when his truck crashed into a tree as the outer bands of the storm arrived.
There are fears of further casualties in the Middle and Upper Keys.
Some 6.3 million people in the state were told to evacuate before the storm.
Which other areas have already been hit?
Irma is the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, and has already caused widespread destruction on several Caribbean islands:
Cuba: Officials have talked of "significant damage", without giving further details, but no casualties have
been reported. Electricity is out across the capital, Havana.
St Martin and St Barthelemy: Six out of 10 homes on St Martin, an island shared between France and the
Netherlands, are now uninhabitable, French officials say. They said nine people had died and seven were
missing in the French territories, while four are known to have died in Dutch Sint Maarten.
Turks and Caicos Islands: Widespread damage, although extent unclear.
Barbuda: The small island is said to be "barely habitable", with 95% of the buildings damaged. Antigua and
Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne estimates reconstruction will cost $100m (£80m). One death
has been confirmed
Anguilla: Extensive damage with one person confirmed dead.
Puerto Rico: More than 6,000 residents of the US territory are in shelters and many more without power. At. least three people have died.
British Virgin Islands: Widespread damage reported, and five dead.
US Virgin Islands: Damage to infrastructure was said to be widespread, with four deaths confirmed.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Both battered by the storm, but neither had as much damage as initially
feared.
My experience of the speach:
I was really nervous before going in because I thought I was going to forget what I had to say, but in the moment that I went into the room I was really confident so I tried to do it as good as I could.