past the hour. let's start with this monster hurricane this morning. irma taking aim at florida after leaving a trail of destruction in the caribbean. right now irma remains a very strong, scatastrophic category -- catastrophic category-five hurricane. 185 mile-per-hour winds as it moves along the northern end of the dominican republic. before it reaches the u.s. mainland, territories and islands in the atlantic are battered. the death toll rising. nine people now killed in the storm. this number expected to keep climbing. >> according to the u.n. hurricane could impact 37 million people. puerto rico may have avoided a direct hit, but the governor telling cnn there is significant damage as rain and powerful winds lash the island. more than one million customers now without power in puerto rico. >> at least eight people died. two others seriously injured on the islands of st. barts and st. maarten. those who rode out the storm there describe paradise lost.