Hurricane Irma: The Devastation
September 20, 2017
The most powerful hurricane the Atlantic has ever seen made landfall in the northeast Caribbean on Wednesday, Sept. 6 as category five hurricane, leaving islands in the Caribbean in complete devastation.
Barbuda, a small island in the eastern Caribbean, is in ruins. When the storm hit, all power was knocked out, causing the island to go dark for about 12 hours. Ninety percent of the island was destroyed as a result of the hurricane, leaving more than half of the island’s population homeless. The majority of the island’s inhabitants have been relocated to the Island of Antigua, where their future remains uncertain. The damage totals at about $150 million dollars, however, only one fatality on the Island of Barbuda was reported.
By Saturday, Sept. 9, the hurricane then made its way to northern Cuba, where it struck with winds up to 120 mph and severe flooding. Still a category five, Irma claimed the lives of 10 people in Cuba. The extent of the damage is still unknown.
By the time it got to Florida, the Irma had downgraded to a category three hurricane. As of Monday Sept. 9, the hurricane has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but still Irma’s wrath has not given up. Six million of Florida residents have been left without power, 16 counties have been ordered for a mandatory evacuation. Florida’s Key West got the worst of the storm and retained the majority of the damage. 12 deaths have been reported. In total 9 states were affected by the hurricane, the majority of them with severe power outages.
To donate in aid of Hurricane Irma relief visit: https://www.gofundme.com/officialbarbuda
