‘There Is No Home to Go Back to.’ Hurricane Irma Flattens Barbuda, Leaving a Population Stranded

The Caribbean is no stranger to hurricanes, and so when Hurricane Irma struck on Tuesday night plenty on the island of Barbuda hunkered down to see it through. Elessa Harris, 22, said she knew this storm was different when she saw her “roof being lifted up by the winds.” In panic, she fled to a neighbors’ home as winds of up to 185 miles per hour buffeted the eastern Caribbean Island. She emerged on Wednesday to a changed world: Her entire village had been destroyed. “I have witnessed hurricanes before,” she says. “But nothing like this.” The 68-square-mile island, which makes up one half of the dual island state of Antigua and Barbuda, was where the Category 5 hurricane first made landfall before it continued on its relentless churn through the Caribbean and up north to Cuba and the U.S., killing at least two dozen. Irma is the strongest Atlantic hurricane in history and Barbuda, known for its white-sand beaches, is among the worst hit islands, with 95% of its structures damaged. The island’s only hospital, its schools, and its airport now lie in ruins and officials estimate that it will cost more than $100 million to rebuild the island’s homes and infrastructure — a hefty fee for the indebted nation with a GDP of less than $2 billion. Locals were evacuated to the sister island of Antigua, where the Sir Vivian Richards cricket stadium has been turned into a temporary shelter for more than a hundred of the 1,800 hom...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized antigua and barbuda hurricane irma Source Type: news