Morning mail: 'A monster covers us' – Irma hits the Caribbean Thursday: Hurricane wreaks havoc, ripping up roofs and taking down power lines. Plus: the high court will rule on same-sex marriage survey at 2.15pm today Wind and rain lashes Luquillo as Hurricane Irma hits islands in the northern Caribbean. Photograph: Alvin Baez/Reuters Eleanor Ainge Roy @EleanorAingeRoy Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 7 September. Top stories Hurricane Irma has wreaked havoc on the Caribbean Islands as it moves west towards the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Irma is the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, with category-five winds and rain ripping roofs from houses in St Barts, destroying government buildings in St Martin and bringing rolling power outages to tens of thousands of people huddled in shelters across the region. Michel Magras, senator for St Barts, wrote in a text message to French media: "I am shocked by the monster that covers us. The island is devastated ... It is apocalyptic, a lot of damage, many roofs destroyed." So far, there are no reports of fatalities but the brunt of the storm is expected to be born by the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and the southern Bahamas as the hurricane picks up pace and intensity as it travels westward across the warmer waters of the Caribbean. Meanwhile, in Florida, long lines continue at fuel stations and there are supply shortages of essential items as Americans prepare for the superstorm, which is predicted to make landfall on the weekend. Follow the Guardian's live blog of Irma's path here, where environment correspondent Oliver Milman has just posted a report on the increasing ferocity of hurricanes and how they are being influenced by climate change. The high court will announce its verdict on the same-sex marriage postal survey at 2.15pm this afternoon. The second day of hearings, on Wednesday, was dominated by the Turnbull government's response to claims that the $122m for the survey was improperly appropriated. The solicitor general, Stephen Donaghue, acting for the government, challenged the right of plaintiffs to launch legal action against the survey and said the funding was lawful because it met the criteria of being unforeseen and urgent. Conservation groups are warning of "catastrophic" consequences for the threatened greater glider if logging proceeds unabated in Victoria's central highlands. There are protections in place for the Leadbeater's possum, which occupies similar areas, but not for the glider. Citizen scientists are warning that logging has already begun in areas known to be inhabited by the glider. The Victorian government says it is determining interim protection measures after the greater gliders were listed as a threatened species in May. The type of flammable building cladding that contributed to the Grenfell Tower disaster should be immediately banned in Australia, an inquiry has found. The use of polyethylene composite panels has been under scrutiny in the Senate since the London fire claimed 80 lives. The tower used a cheap but highly flammable type of cladding, which saves builders about $3 a square metre but puts residents at huge risk. A leaked New South Wales government submission suggested there were 2,500 buildings with the cladding in the state alone, the Senate heard. The inquiry released its report on Wednesday afternoon recommending an urgent ban. Fortune teller Pilar Abel has lost a 10-year campaign to prove she is Salvador Dalí's only child and heir. DNA evidence taken from Dalí's recently exhumed body has proved Abel is not related to the eccentric Spanish surrealist. In June the Spanish courts ordered a DNA test be conducted to settle the case once and for all and in July experts entered the crypt beneath the museum Dalí designed for himself in his home town of Figueres, Catalonia, to take samples from his hair, nails and bones. Abel had claimed that the resemblance between her and the artist was so marked that "the only thing I'm missing is a moustache". Had the DNA evidence supported her claim, Abel would have been heir to a quarter of Dalí's fortune. Scientists who entered the crypt said Dali's famous moustache remains perfectly intact. Sport Australian cricketer David Warner reacts after scoring a century during the third day of the second cricket Test between Bangladesh and Australia. Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images David Warner's second successive hundred against Bangladesh helped Australia to a 72-run lead on the third day of the second and final Test in Chittagong on Wednesday. Australia had eclipsed Bangladesh's first innings total of 305 by tea but a late collapse from the tourists left them on 377-9 at stumps, having been 298-3 at one stage, on a day where rain washed out more than a session's play. This week our resident cartoonist David Squires looks ahead to Australia's next challenge on the road to the World Cup in Russia and explores why the Socceroos have many reasons to remain cheerful. Thinking time The shortlist of Australia's biggest literary prize is packed with navel-gazing, writes Jen Webb, with each of the nominated books featuring an author as a key character. But the novels – Last Days of Ava Langdon by Mark O'Flynn, Waiting by Philip Salom, An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire, Extinctions by Josephine Wilson and Their Brilliant Careers by Ryan O'Neill – are also packed with compassion and are "the most heartwarming selection" in recent memory. The Miles Franklin awards will be announced at 8.30pm. Has David Lynch's 40-year-career come to an end with Twin Peaks: The Return? The 18-hour star-studded series was awash with familiar Lynchian motifs: hapless criminals, crusading lawmen, slinky femmes fatale, coffee, pie and alternate dimensions. Tom Huddleston analyses the director's latest work for clues the 71-year-old has wished his film-making career a fond farewell and is "setting aside the dense, violent, strangely comforting worlds he's spent four decades creating" to step back into some "semblance of reality". Think the latest GDP figures are good news for the Australian economy? Look a little closer, says Greg Jericho. Yes, the economy is growing but the elements propping up that growth are largely one-off government projects and increased household spending. "Given the low wages, growth is dependent on people reducing their savings. That is hardly sustainable." What's he done now? Overnight Trump has tweeted that tax cuts and tax reform are on the cards for Americans, a key campaign promise, as: "We are the highest taxed nation in the world – that will change." The claim is patently untrue and tax experts have fired back at Trump on Twitter. "To repeat, the US has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world," tweeted Richard Rubin, the Wall Street Journal's tax reporter. "However, the US is a low-tax country overall." Media roundup The Hobart Mercury splashes with renewed hopes that the elusive Tasmanian tiger lives on, and features a grainy still provided by a team of Tasmanian thylacine trackers, who say their videos and images taken from a secret location in southern Tasmania are the most reliable and convincing evidence provided so far that they still exist. The Daily Telegraph features a full-page picture of Lynette Daley, who was found dead five years ago on a remote New South Wales beach. Yesterday it took a jury just 32 minutes to convict Adrian Attwater of manslaughter, and he and Paul Maris of aggravated sexual assault. And the ABC has a report on the growing trend of "social cooling" in which the fear of online surveillance makes internet users self-conscious about what they click on, increasing the pressure to be "perfect" – even from behind a computer screen. Coming up The high court will rule on the challenges to the same-sex marriage postal survey at 2.15pm today in Melbourne. Childcare workers are going out on strike today at 3.20pm. They are demanding higher pay and thousands are expected to stop work, affecting up to 10,000 families. The Coptic Pope is visiting Melbourne and will hold a press conference and attend an official reception. Supporting the Guardian We'd like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396