Irma and Jose become first Atlantic hurricanes to be so intense at same time since records began

Hurricanes Irma and Jose have set a record by being the first two storms with speeds topping 150mph to appear at the same time, with thousands of Irma victims across the Caribbean preparing for further misery as Jose follows close behind.

While Irma has maintained speeds over 150mph for several days, officials reported that Hurricane Jose had been upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” category 4 storm maximum sustained winds near 150 mph, according to the National Hurricane Centre.

The storm currently sits east of the Leeward Islands and is forecast to move west-northwest into the Atlantic Ocean over the coming days, and could land a double blow to those locations wrecked by Irma.

Irma smashed homes, shops, roads and schools; knocked out power, water and telephone service; trapped thousands of tourists; and stripped trees of their leaves across several islands, among them: St. Martin, St. Barts, St. Thomas, Barbuda and Anguilla.

Many of Irma's victims fled their islands on ferries and fishing boats for fear of Jose, which could bring high winds and heavy rain over the weekend.

“I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to know that further damage is imminent,” said Inspector Frankie Thomas of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda.

On Barbuda, a coral island rising 125ft above sea level, authorities ordered an evacuation of all 1,400 people to neighbouring Antigua, where Stevet Jeremiah was reunited with one son and made plans to bury another.

Ms Jeremiah, who sells lobster and crab to tourists, was huddled in her wooden home on Barbuda early Wednesday with her partner and their 2- and 4-year-old boys as Irma ripped open their metal roof and sent the ocean surging into the house.

Her younger son, Carl Junior Francis, was swept away. Neighbors found his body after sunrise.

“Two years old. He just turned 2, the 17th, last month. Just turned 2,” she told the Associated Press. Her first task, she said, would be organise his funeral. “That's all I can do. There is nothing else I can do.”

Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University, said this was the first time there had been two hurricanes in the Atlantic with speeds topping 150mph.

“2 Atlantic hurricanes currently have winds of 150 mph (#Irma and #Jose) - 1st time on record Atlantic has had 2 150+ mph storms at same time,” he said on Twitter, he later added that Friday had seen more hurricane activity across the Atlantic on one day then had ever been recordded before.

On Friday, Hurricane Irma was scraping Cuba's northern coast as it made its way towards toward Florida, leaving in its trail a ravaged string of Caribbean resort islands.

The death toll in the Caribbean stood at at least 22 and was expected to rise as rescuers reached some of the hardest-hit areas.

On St. Martin, which is divided between Dutch and French control, cafes and shops were swamped, and the storm left gnarled black branches denuded of leaves and roofs were torn off numerous houses.

William Marlin, prime minister of the Dutch side of St. Martin, said recovery was expected to take months and Jose threatened to make things worse.

“We've lost many, many homes. Schools have been destroyed,” he said. “We foresee a loss of the tourist season because of the damage that was done to hotel properties, the negative publicity that one would have that it's better to go somewhere else because it's destroyed. So that will have a serious impact on our economy.”

Agencies contributed to this report.