First images out of Barbuda from a Facebook broadcast live by ABS Radio & TV.
Widespread destruction has occurred on the island.
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Irma’s Aftermath: “For The First Time In 300 Years, There’s Not A Single Living Person On Barbuda”
Irma’s Aftermath: “For The First Time In 300 Years, There’s Not A Single Living Person On Barbuda”
Exactly one week ago, Prime Minister Gaston Browne surveyed the damage on his tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda and declared that Hurricane Irma had completely devastated the island and left 90% of all dwellings leveled. Browne went on to say that Irma’s “absolute devastation” meant that Barbuda was “basically uninhabitable” for the 1,800 people who called it home.
Now, according Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States, Ronald Sanders, the entire island has been evacuated for the first time in 300 years leaving “not a single living person on the island of Barbuda.” Per the USA Today:
“The damage is complete,” says Ambassador Ronald Sanders, who has served as Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the U.S. since 2015. “For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda — a civilization that has existed on that island for over 300 years has now been extinguished.”
“This was a huge monster,” he says. “The island and the people on the island had absolutely no chance.”
“We’ve had most of the people we’ve brought over to Antigua in shelters,” says Sanders. “We’ve tried to make living accommodations as good as humanly possible in these circumstances. Fortunately, we had planned ahead for this hurricane, and we had ordered supplies in from Miami and the United States before the hurricane hit.”
As the following aerial footage from the BBC shows, not a single structure was left untouched by Irma’s 185 mph winds.
Meanwhile, even though Barbuda residents have been evacuated to safety on Antigua, Sanders says the mass evacuation has resulted in an unsustainable situation with massively overcrowded schools and unsanitary living quarters in government facilities.
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Barbuda “Totally Demolished” After Hurricane Irma Levels 90% Of All Dwellings
Barbuda “Totally Demolished” After Hurricane Irma Levels 90% Of All Dwellings
Having mauled the Caribbean island of St. Martin overnight, where this morning the French government said that the four “most solid” buildings have been destroyed, Hurricane Irma – now at 185mps for a record 33 straight hours – has just passed north of Puerto Rico, buffeting the US island territory’s capital, San Juan, with heavy downpours and strong winds that scattered tree limbs across roadways, but not before “totally demolishing” the island of Barbuda, with 90% of all dwellings leveled, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.
Images show Irma damage in Barbuda; officials say destruction could be “upwards of 90%” http://cnn.it/2vMPepD
Browne said that Irma has unleashed “absolute devastation” on the island making Barbuda, home to some 1,800 people, “basically uninhabitable” with preliminary damage estimated at some $150 million.
Antigua & Barbuda’s Prime Minister: “The way it stands now, #Barbuda is basically uninhabitable.”
Photos: ABS Television/Radio.
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“Devastating” Hurricane Irma Flattens “Most Solid” Buildings On Caribbean Island
“Devastating” Hurricane Irma Flattens “Most Solid” Buildings On Caribbean Island
“Irma is the kind of storm where you get thousands of lives lost. This is not going to be the big slow-motion flood like Harvey – this is a real, honest-to-God hurricane.”
– Chuck Watson, disaster modeler with Enki Research
Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic storm on record according to the NHC, raced across northern Caribbean islands on Wednesday with a “catastrophic mix of fierce winds, surf and rain”, ahead of what appears a virtually guaranteed Florida landfall at the weekend. While Irma precise trajectory remained uncertain, the latest NHC forecast sees the cone coming right on top fo the panhandle.
.@NHC_Atlantic cone w/ #Irma & how its changed over time. Trend back to the right and a wide cone still relaying uncertainty on future track
The eye of Irma, a Category 5 storm packing winds of 185 miles per hour (295 km per hour), moved away from the island of Barbuda and toward the island of St. Martin, east of Puerto Rico, early on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami reported. It could hit Florida on Saturday. It is expected to bring strong storm surges and up to 20 inches of rain in some places.
“We are hunkered down and it is very windy … the wind is a major threat,” said Garfield Burford, the director of news at ABS TV and Radio on the island of Antigua, south of Barbuda. “So far, some roofs have been blown off” he added according to Reuters. Most people who were on Antigua and Barbuda were without power and about 1,000 people were spending the night in shelters in Antigua, according to Burford. “It’s very scary … most of the islands are dark so it’s a very, very frightening,” he said.
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