Culture

The Most Soul-Crushing Photos And Videos Of Devastation From Hurricane Irma So Far

#Hurricane Irma
by


hurricane irma satellite

NOAA


Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, has caused widespread destruction to the islands in the Caribbean in only a few days. The cataclysmic Category 5 hurricane has smashed islands with its fierce winds that are as strong as 185 mph. The massive and powerful hurricane has left a path of destruction from Barbuda to the U.S. Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico as it has its sights set on Florida. The magnificently dangerous storm has ripped roofs off of buildings, destroyed airports, and left tens of thousands homeless. The death toll from Hurricane Irma is at at least nine in the Caribbean, but that number is expected to rise rapidly once people dig out of their demolished homes.

The tiny island of Barbuda, with a population of approximately 1,400, was reduced to “literally rubble” after the storm passed through. Gaston Browne, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said around 90% of the nation’s structures and vehicles have been destroyed and 50% of the population is now homeless.

Horrible news turns even worse now that Hurricane Jose is now a Category 3 storm and is expected to hit Barbuda and Antigua.

https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/905905218302423040

[protected-iframe id=”38aa4be7158bddfed56052c87e6b46fe-97886205-93291949″ info=”//static.apester.com/js/sdk/v2.0/apester-javascript-sdk.min.js” height=”600″ class=”apester-media”]

The massive and powerful hurricane obliterated St. Martin. Top local official Daniel Gibbs said the island was “95 percent destroyed” and “an enormous catastrophe.” The intense 185 mph winds have smashed their world famous Princess Juliana International Airport which used to have a beach at the end of the runway.

Here is the before and after photos of picturesque St. Martin reduced to rubble in many places.

St. Barts was also devastated.

As was St. Thomas.

Puerto Rico suffered some damage, but Hurricane Irma traveled north of the U.S. territory, sparing it from a catastrophic leveling that other islands suffered. Three people died in Puerto Rico and over 1 million inhabitants of the island are without power. A Delta airplane did escape Irma’s wrath in the nick of time.

[protected-iframe id=”0dfdcefe0aae72974b6717c16eaa1641-97886205-93291949″ info=”//static.apester.com/js/sdk/v2.0/apester-javascript-sdk.min.js” height=”350″ class=”apester-media”]

Hurricane Irma is currently north of the Dominican Republic and the eye of the storm is heading directly towards Turks and Caicos on Thursday night and then the Bahamas. After that the storm looks to have a direct hit with Florida and some analysts are saying that Irma could cause approximately $100 billion in damage in the United States alone and has the potential to be the most expensive Atlantic storm in history.

https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/905861946167238656

After seeing these photos, if you are instructed to evacuate your area then you should definitely do so.