ST. JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda: Hurricane Irma killed one person and left behind "total devastation" as the monster storm smashed into the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda on Wednesday (Sep 6), the prime minister said.

"It is just total devastation, Barbuda now is literally rubble," Prime Minister Gaston Browne said in the aftermath of the Category Five storm.

Speaking later on CNN, Browne said 95 per cent of properties in Barbuda were damaged, with up to 30 per cent demolished.

"It is absolutely heart-wrenching," he said.

One person is known to have died, Browne said, apparently to be child whose mother was taking him or her to safety after the building they were in was damaged.

The airport was damaged and flights were unable to land. Badly-needed aid will have to be flown in by helicopter from Antigua, he added.

"We have estimated the rebuilding efforts to be no less than US$100 million. That is conservative, because we're talking about rebuilding everything, all of the institutions, the infrastructure, the telecommunications, the roads... Even the hotels on the island, those are totally demolished, as well. It is terrible."

Located east of Puerto Rico, Barbuda has 1,600 residents and is the sister island of Antigua, which was spared the worst of the storm.

IRMA KILLS SIX IN ST MARTIN: OFFICIAL

At least six people were killed in the French part of the Caribbean island St Martin after Hurricane Irma tore through the region, Guadeloupe prefect Eric Maire said Wednesday.

"This is not the final toll. Far from it. We sadly risk further discoveries," Maire told journalists.

"The police didn't start again until the middle of the morning, we were not able, even with firefighters, to explore the whole of the island," he added.

The previous toll given by France's overseas ministry was two dead and two seriously injured on the eastern Caribbean islands St Barts and St Martin.

"The situation in St Martin and St Barts is dramatic -- there is no drinking water, electricity, public buildings are unusable, houses have been destroyed. We estimate that some 60, 70 percent of the houses have been destroyed in St Martin," Maire said.

Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, cut a deadly swath through a string of small Caribbean islands on Wednesday.

The French minister for overseas affairs, Annick Girardin, was to fly to Guadeloupe late Wednesday with emergency teams and supplies to assess the situation, the ministry said.

"It's too soon for casualty figures (but) I can already tell you the toll will be harsh and cruel," French President Macron said, adding that he expected damage on St Barts and St Martin to be "considerable".

St Martin ("Sint Maarten" in Dutch), located south of the island of Anguilla, is divided between the Netherlands and France.

St Barts ("Saint Barthelemy" in French), which lies to the southeast of St Martin, is administered with the status of a French collectivity, as is the French part of St Martin. </s> (CNN) — Reports of fatalities and widespread damage in northern Caribbean islands began to emerge Wednesday night after Hurricane Irma blasted through, packing devastating winds and rain.

“Barbuda right now is literally a rubble,” Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda told an interviewer with ABS TV/Radio Antigua.

“The entire housing stock was damaged,” Browne said after visiting the island of 1,800. “It is just a total devastation.”

Irma killed at least three people, destroyed government buildings, tore roofs from houses and left islands without power or communications. St. Martin/St. Maarten and St. Barts also felt the fury of the Category 5 storm, one of the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic, according to updates from the region.

Browne said there currently is no water or phone service for Barbuda residents. He said one fatality, an infant, had been confirmed.

Communication was disrupted after winds snapped a cell tower in two on the island.

Irma damaged Barbuda’s lone airport, which will now force officials to ferry supplies by boat and helicopter from Antigua. Browne estimated rebuilding would cost about $100 million.

“I have never seen any such destruction on a per capita basis compared to what I saw in Barbuda this afternoon,” Browne told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

‘My family has nowhere to go’

Charles Fernandez, minister of foreign affairs and international trade for Antigua and Barbuda, said that destruction on Barbuda was “upwards of 90%.”

One woman told ABS TV/Radio her family of seven, including a 2-month-old infant, crammed into a closet before the hurricane force winds. The storm ripped the roof off, and they huddled together until rescuers reached them. Her home is destroyed, the woman said.

“My main concern now is, how we’re going to survive after this,” the Barbuda resident said.

One man, whose home was also destroyed, echoed the woman’s concerns.

“My family has nowhere to go,” he told ABS/TV Radio.

Another Barbuda resident it felt like “the whole house was ripping apart.” The woman called 911 and authorities told the family to get in the closet or the bathroom.

“I start praying and I ask God to just come and help me get out of this house because the house was like tearing apart,” she told ABS TV/Radio Antigua. “It was like sucking us up, because we were holding on the bathroom door.”

At least two people died and two others were seriously injured on St. Barts and St. Martin, said French Overseas Affairs Minister Annick Girardin. The islands are French overseas collectivities.

Irma destroyed government buildings, tore roofs from houses and left northern Caribbean islands without power or communications.

“In terms of material damage, the four strongest buildings on the island of St. Martin have been destroyed,” which meant that weaker structures likely had been damaged or destroyed, French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb told reporters.

Xaverius van der Hoek, who lives on St. Maarten, said his home — which has a concrete roof and hurricane shutters — was spared, but many other homes suffered damage.

“There is a sense of dread … utility poles are down everywhere. There is no power and no public water and it appears it may take a long time to restore,” he told CNN. “From my balcony alone, I count at least 24 homes and apartment building with either partial or entire roofs missing.”

Van der Hoek said he get power from a generator. But he only has fuel to last about a week.

The firehouse in St. Barts was under a meter of water and is out of service, according to an update posted to Twitter by the government of the neighboring French territory, Guadeloupe.

“Firefighters have taken shelter in an upstairs room. A number of houses have suffered damage, roofs have been ripped out. Total loss of electricity,” it said.

The mayor’s office in St. Martin has been damaged, the update from Guadeloupe said, and the mayor and 23 others took shelter in a concrete-walled room.

The island has been without electricity since 6 a.m. local time, it said.

Virginia Barreras told CNN she was riding out the storm in a hotel in St. Martin.

“The palm trees are bent over and (I) can’t see anything but white,” she said before Irma’s core passed over the island. “The walls shake when the wind blows hard, and we can hear debris being thrown around.”

Footage posted to YouTube by PTZtv.com from Maho Beach, St. Maarten, showed winds so powerful they reportedly took out the webcam filming the scene. St. Maarten is the Dutch part of the island.

Irma’s core, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph — well above the 157 mph threshold of a Category 5 — slammed Barbuda before hitting St. Martin and Anguilla.

Keithley Meade, director of the Antigua and Barbuda Meteorological Services, said, “Barbuda was heavily damaged by Irma. So badly damaged that there is no communication, so we don’t know how much.”

After slamming St. Martin, Anguilla and St. Kitts and Nevis, the storm was expected to move near the British Virgin Islands and northern US Virgin Islands.

Forecasters warn that Irma’s likely path will be near the Turks and Caicos Islands on Thursday. The storm is expected to pass just north of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, bringing hurricane force winds to northern sections of the island, likely causing mudslides and flooding.

In the Bahamas, emergency evacuations have been ordered for six southern islands — Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins, Long Cay and Ragged Island. </s> Hollywood actor Robert de Niro has vowed to help Barbuda rebuild after Hurricane Irma left a trail of "absolute devastation" across the tiny Caribbean island.

Packing 185-mile-per-hour winds, the storm destroyed houses, snapping trees and killing at least one person

Gaston Browne, the prime minister of the two-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, described the island as "barely habitable" after the powerful Category 5 storm struck.

"This rebuilding initiative will take years," Browne told local ABS Television Radio after a visit to the island.

A two-year-old child was killed as a family tried to escape a damaged home during the storm, he said.

Hurricane Irma makes landfall in the Caribbean, in pictures

Describing the scene as "absolute devastation," he said the storm, which also snapped a telecoms tower, had caused estimated damage of some $150 million.

"It is heart-wrenching, absolutely devastating." he said, adding that 95 per cent of buildings on Barbuda had been damaged.

"I have never seen any such destruction on a per-capita before as I saw when I was in Barbuda this afternoon.

"The telecommunications system is totally destroyed, we have seen cell towers snapped in two.”

“Barbuda now is literally rubble," he added.

He estimated about 60 percent of the island's roughly 1,400 people were left homeless. "Either they were totally demolished or they would have lost their roof," Browne told the Associated Press

Lying a little over 250 miles (400 km) east of Puerto Rico, Barbuda has a population of 1,800 and is one of the Caribbean's quietest getaways for tourists coming to enjoy its turquoise seas and coral reefs.

Aerial footage of the island after Irma had passed through showed a desolate, flooded landscape shorn of trees and foliage with overturned vehicles and scattered debris.

Among the higher-end property losses on the island was the Paradise Found Nobu Resort, partially owned by Hollywood screen star Robert De Niro, according to Stan Rosenfield, a spokesman for the actor.

According to Deadline, the two-time Oscar winner said in a statement: “We are beyond saddened to learn of the devastation in Barbuda caused from Hurricane Irma and look forward to working with the Paradise Found Nobu Resort team, the Barbuda Council, GOAB and the entire Barbuda community to successfully rebuild what nature has taken away from us.”

An island resident who identified himself as King Goldilocks, 60, said he had been left homeless.

"Last night was the worst night of my life," Goldilocks said on ABS, wearing a raincoat and clutching a cane. "We had minimal loss of life but we had maximum damage.”

The airport on Barbuda has been destroyed, which means that Antigua will be used as a hub, with aid being brought across to Barbuda by boat and helicopter.

Browne said Barbudan residents should be evacuated if a second hurricane, Jose, turns toward the islands later this week. Jose is forecast to become a major storm and pass close to Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday. </s> Barbuda has been left completely devastated by Hurricane Irma. An estimated 95% of Barbuda’s structures are damaged, and the entire island of around 1,800 people has been evacuated.

“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.”

According to Sanders, Irma was “the most ferocious, cruel and merciless storm” in the island’s history. The hurricane was 378 miles wide when it descended on Barbuda, which is just 62 square miles.

“This was a huge monster,” he says. “The island and the people on the island had absolutely no chance.”

Evacuees from Barbuda were sent to Antigua, which did not suffer the same level of damage from Irma.

“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.”

Though Barbudan evacuees are safe, Sanders says the situation is not ideal — people are living in cramped quarters in government facilities and nursing homes, including some 500 school-aged children. Now that school is back in session, Antigua must find room for these students.

“The situation is unacceptable, and it’s costly,” he says. “We’re going to have to keep this going for sometime because Barbuda’s not going to be rebuilt in a hurry, and when we do rebuild it, we’re going to have to rebuild to massive hurricane standards. This is going to take a while. There is no electricity there, there is no potable water anymore, there is no structure in which people can survive. We have a mammoth task on our hands.”

Sanders says the world must step up and help Barbuda.

“We are a small island community — the gross domestic product of Antigua is $1 billion a year,” he says. “We cannot afford to take on this responsibility by ourselves. Barbuda is not just a disaster, it’s a humanitarian crisis. We are hopeful that the international community will come to our aid, not because we’re begging for something we want, but because we’re begging for something that is needed.”

Right now, initial estimates suggest that Barbuda will need about $200 million to recover. Antigua and Barbuda will create a sustainable development plan for rebuilding Barbuda, Sanders says, adding that he hopes the global community will provide humanitarian recovery aid.

“We have declared a state of emergency in Barbuda because it is a complete disaster and uninhabitable,” he says. “We cannot cope with our own resources alone.”

In addition to financial aid, Sanders says the global community must also stand up to climate change.

“We believe climate change is here to stay — it’s a reality, despite all of the naysayers,” he says. “We know that these things have occurred as a result of the profligacy of the countries that are rich, and have abused the system. We, unfortunately, who contribute less than naught point naught percent of pollution of the world’s atmosphere, are the world’s greatest victims.”

This story first aired as an interview on PRI's The Takeaway. </s> Barbuda has been left completely devastated by Hurricane Irma. An estimated 95% of Barbuda’s structures are damaged, and the entire island of around 1,800 people has been evacuated.

“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.”Read More….https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/14/barbuda-hurricane-irama-devastation/665950001/ </s> Hurricane Irma killed eight people on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin and left Barbuda devastated on Thursday as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century took aim at Florida.

Television footage of the Franco-Dutch island of Saint Martin showed a damaged marina with boats tossed into piles, submerged streets and flooded homes. Power was knocked out on Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy and in parts of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. "It is an enormous disaster, 95 percent of the island is destroyed. I am in shock," Daniel Gibbs, chairman of a local council on Saint Martin, told Radio Caribbean International. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said eight people were killed and the toll was likely to rise.

"We did not have the time yet to explore all the shores," Collomb told Franceinfo radio, adding that 23 people were also injured. In all, at least 10 people were reported killed by Irma on four islands. Irma caused "enormous damage" to the Dutch side of Saint Martin, called Sint Maarten, the Dutch Royal Navy said. The navy tweeted images gathered by helicopter of damaged houses, hotels and boats. The airport was unreachable, it said. The hurricane was on track to reach Florida on Saturday or Sunday, becoming the second major hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in as many weeks after Hurricane Harvey.

The eye of Irma was moving west-northwest off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The island of Barbuda is a scene of "total carnage" and the tiny two-island nation will seek international assistance, said Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda. Browne told the BBC about half of Barbuda's population of some 1,800 were homeless while nine out of 10 buildings had suffered some damage and many were destroyed. "We flew into Barbuda only to see total carnage. It was easily one of the most emotionally painful experiences that I have had," Browne said in an interview on BBC Radio Four.

"Approximately 50 percent of them (residents of Barbuda) are literally homeless at this time. They are bunking together, we are trying to get ... relief supplies to them first thing tomorrow morning," he said, adding that it would take months or years to restore some level of normalcy to the island. Browne said one person was killed on Barbuda. A second storm-related fatality, that of a surfer, was reported on Barbados. Irma buffeted Puerto Rico early on Thursday, buffeting its capital San Juan with heavy downpours and strong winds that scattered tree limbs across roadways.

At least half of Puerto Rico's homes and businesses were without power, according to Twitter posts and a message posted by an island utility executive. The NHC said it was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and one of the five most forceful storms to hit the Atlantic basin in 82 years. Irma's precise course remained uncertain but it was likely to be downgraded to a Category 4 storm by the time it makes landfall in Florida, the NHC said.

It has become a little less organised over the past few hours but the threat of direct hurricane impacts in Florida over the weekend and early next week were increasing, it said. Hurricane watches were in effect for the northwestern Bahamas and much of Cuba.

Two other hurricanes formed on Wednesday. Katia in the Gulf of Mexico posed no threat to the United States, according to U.S. forecasters. Hurricane Jose about 1,000 miles (1,610 km) east of the Caribbean's Lesser Antilles islands, could eventually threaten the U.S. mainland. The storm activity comes after Harvey claimed about 60 lives and caused property damage estimated as high as $180 billion in Texas and Louisiana.

Florida emergency management officials, chastened by Harvey's devastation, began evacuations days in advance of Irma's arrival, ordering all tourists to leave the Florida Keys. Evacuation of residents from the Keys began Wednesday evening.

Ed Rappaport, the Miami-based NHC's acting director, told WFOR-TV that Irma was a "once-in-a-generation storm". Florida's normally storm-jaded residents appeared to be taking the warnings seriously, too. In Cuba, 90 miles (145 km) south of the Keys, authorities posted a hurricane alert for the island's central and eastern regions, as residents in Havana, the capital, waited in lines to stock up on food, water and gasoline. U.S. President Donald Trump said he and aides were monitoring Irma's progress. The president owns the waterfront Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Florida could take a direct hit from the storm and Trump approved emergency declarations from that state, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, mobilizing federal disaster relief efforts. Florida Governor Rick Scott said Irma could be more devastating than Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm that struck the state in 1992 and still ranks as one of the costliest ever in the United States. Residents in most coastal communities of densely populated Miami-Dade County were ordered to move to higher ground beginning at 9 a.m. ET (1300 GMT) on Thursday, Mayor Carlos Gimenez said. </s> (CNN) When Hurricane Irma ravaged the island of Barbuda in the Caribbean, the ferocious storm "extinguished" the isle's way of life and left the beautiful spot "uninhabitable." And, now, for the first time in a few centuries, no one lives there.

"The damage is complete," Ronald Sanders, the Antigua and Barbuda ambassador to the United States, told Public Radio International. "It's a humanitarian disaster."

"For the first time in 300 years, there's not a single living person on the island of Barbuda -- a civilization that has existed in that island for close to, over 300 years has now been extinguished."

Sanders made similar remarks in an interview with CNN.

A home in Barbuda, one of many destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

Antigua and Barbuda -- which is located southeast of Puerto Rico and where the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea meet -- became a sovereign state in the British commonwealth in 1981. Its population in July was estimated to be 94,731, with 97% of the population living on the island of Antigua, the CIA World Factbook said.

The majority-Christian and the majority-English speaking nation is reliant in large part on travel and tourism and has financial services businesses. But tourism is its bread and butter -- accounting for nearly 60% of its GDP.

When the storm hit, Antigua received minimal damage but the storm obliterated Barbuda's infrastructure, flattening structure after structure. At least one death was reported. Rescuers evacuated residents to Antigua and a state of emergency has been declared.

"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," Sanders told PRI.

He told CNN about 1,700 people were evacuated from Antigua to Barbuda and said others went to Antigua on their own.

The living conditions aren't perfect and they can be "cramped," he said. But the evacuees are safe and the young people from Barbuda will be going to school in Antigua, for the time being.

"It's government facilities in which they are being located. We've opened some others. We've taken a nursing home for instance and converted that into accommodation and Antiguans have been very generous in opening their homes to some of the Barbudans, particularly those with young children," he told PRI.

The government believes that while some Barbudans might choose to stay in Antigua even after their island is rebuilt, many will want to go home.

It's a small island, 62 square miles, and its residents have a strong sense of belonging. That's where their ancestors are buried, Sanders said.

"Generations of people have lived on that island. They know nothing else. The commitment to that island is extremely strong. They have a strong sense of who they are," he told CNN.

The government intends to rebuild the island, which will take time. International humanitarian help is needed in what is a gargantuan job, Sanders said, adding that the small island community can't rebuild without such assistance.

The country is thankful for the help but Sanders notes that a few million dollars is a "drop in the bucket." A massive effort is required, he told CNN.

"We're a $1 billion economy facing a $250 million problem," he said. "We need to look at how we get this island back into shape."

He can't give a timetable for any of the steps to rebuild. It all depends on how much funding the country can raise.

The first thing to do now is clean up so construction can start on buildings strong enough to withstand hurricanes.

"The island is not exactly safe for anything to happen," he told CNN, saying it is filled with dead animals, water flies and rubbish everywhere.

Electricity must be re-established and water needs to flow again.

Antigua and Barbuda is in a different situation from other hard-hit Caribbean islands that are territories of larger and richer nations that can step in to help rebuild: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, for example.

"Antigua is a tiny place, and we have no godfather," Sanders told CNN.

Officials are envisioning assembling a donors conference, he said, where international agencies and nations would plan a rebuilding initiative.

He said it makes sense for larger industrial nations to help out his small and pristine country because of climate change.

"We are the victims of greenhouse gases. We contribute little to pollution," he told CNN. "We are hoping our neighboring countries can respond."

The country would have been hurt even worse if Antigua had taken the same kind of beating from Irma that Barbuda did, Sanders said. But it has been spared and the tourist industry is still functioning well.

Sanders describes the "remarkable beauty" of Barbuda and its beaches.

"Crystal clear water with pink sand beaches. You stand in that water up to your neck and you can look down and see your toes," he said.

While rebuilding Barbuda is a daunting task, the alternative of abandoning the island is "crazy," Sanders said.

It would become a haven for drug traffickers if it is left alone.

"The island has to be secure. It has to be populated. It has to be policed," he told CNN. </s> (CNN) When Hurricane Irma ravaged the island of Barbuda in the Caribbean, the ferocious storm "extinguished" the isle's way of life and left the beautiful spot "uninhabitable." And, now, for the first time in a few centuries, no one lives there.

"The damage is complete," Ronald Sanders, the Antigua and Barbuda ambassador to the United States, told Public Radio International. "It's a humanitarian disaster."

"For the first time in 300 years, there's not a single living person on the island of Barbuda -- a civilization that has existed in that island for close to, over 300 years has now been extinguished."

Sanders made similar remarks in an interview with CNN.

The remains of a home in Barbuda, one of many destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

Antigua and Barbuda -- located southeast of Puerto Rico and where the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea meet -- became a sovereign state in the British commonwealth in 1981. Its population in July was estimated to be 94,731, with 97% of the population living on the island of Antigua, the CIA World Factbook said.

The majority-Christian and the majority-English speaking nation is reliant in large part on travel and tourism and has financial services businesses. But tourism is its bread and butter -- accounting for nearly 60% of its GDP.

JUST WATCHED Resident: Barbuda looks like a war zone Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Resident: Barbuda looks like a war zone 01:33

When the storm hit, Antigua received minimal damage but the storm obliterated Barbuda's infrastructure, flattening structure after structure. At least one death was reported. Rescuers evacuated residents to Antigua and a state of emergency has been declared.

"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," Sanders told PRI.

He told CNN about 1,700 people were evacuated from Barbuda to Antigua and said others went to Antigua on their own.

Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Carmelo Mota, a builder, searches for tools in his destroyed home in Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands, on Monday, September 18. Hurricane Irma devastated the US territory and other Caribbean islands in the region, leaving them exposed to new storms brewing in the Atlantic. Hide Caption 1 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean An aerial photo shows the devastation in Road Town, the capital of Tortola, the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, on Wednesday, September 13. Hide Caption 2 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson talks to a resident of Anguilla during a visit on September 13. Hide Caption 3 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People collect food that was delivered by emergency workers in the Sandy Ground area of Marigot, St. Martin, on Tuesday, September 12. Hide Caption 4 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Buildings are destroyed in St. Martin on September 12. Hide Caption 5 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with St. Martin residents during a visit to the island on September 12. Hide Caption 6 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean French soldiers patrol St. Martin on September 12. Hide Caption 7 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A person works to clean up a street September 12 after Hurricane Irma flooded parts of Havana, Cuba. Hide Caption 8 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man makes repairs in Havana on September 12. Hide Caption 9 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean This Marigot church was among the buildings destroyed in the storm. Hide Caption 10 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Cubans affected by Hurricane Irma line up to collect drinking water in Isabela de Sagua, Cuba, on Monday, September 11. Hide Caption 11 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Dutch King Willem-Alexander, front right, tours damage in St. Maarten on September 11. Hide Caption 12 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A palm tree sticks out of a pool on the French side of St. Martin on September 11. Hide Caption 13 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A woman stands next to her water-logged belongings that had been laid out to dry in front of her home in Isabela de Sagua on September 11. Hide Caption 14 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People line up for supplies in St. Martin on September 11. Hide Caption 15 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean The skeleton of a boat drifts in St. Martin's Simpson Bay on September 11. Hide Caption 16 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People salvage material from the remains of a house in Isabela de Sagua on September 11. Hide Caption 17 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Members of the British Army provide support on Tortola, one of the British Virgin Islands. Hide Caption 18 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A woman carries a dog at an airport checkpoint in St. Martin on September 11. Hide Caption 19 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People wade through a flooded street as a wave crashes in Havana on Sunday, September 10. Hide Caption 20 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Two men search through the rubble of their St. Martin restaurant on September 10. Hide Caption 21 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People make their way through debris in the Cojimar neighborhood of Havana on September 10. Hide Caption 22 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People board a plane leaving St. Martin on September 10. Hide Caption 23 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man wades through a flooded street in Havana on September 10. Hide Caption 24 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean An overview of Havana shows flooded streets on Saturday, September 9. Hide Caption 25 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A woman surveys flooding in Havana on September 9. Hide Caption 26 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A boat rests in a cemetery after Irma tore through Marigot, St. Martin. Hide Caption 27 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Residents return home after Irma passed through Caibarien, Cuba, on September 9. Hide Caption 28 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man walks in Caibarien on September 9. Hide Caption 29 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man carries a child through a flooded street in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, on Friday, September 8. Hide Caption 30 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man walks on a St. Martin street covered in debris on September 8. Hide Caption 31 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A damaged home is tilted onto its side on the Puerto Rican island of Culebra on Thursday, September 7. Hide Caption 32 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A home is surrounded by debris in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7. Hide Caption 33 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Irma damage is seen in St. Martin's Orient Bay on September 7. Hide Caption 34 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Employees from an electrical company work to clear a fallen tree in Sanchez, Dominican Republic. Hide Caption 35 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A woman makes her way through debris in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on September 7. Hide Caption 36 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean In this image made from video, damaged houses are seen in St. Thomas on September 7. Hide Caption 37 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean The storm left widespread destruction on the island of Barbuda on September 7. Hide Caption 38 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A flattened home is seen in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7. Hide Caption 39 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Nagua residents ride through an area affected by the storm on September 7. Hide Caption 40 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Trash and debris is washed ashore in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on September 7. Hide Caption 41 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People walk through damage in Marigot, St. Martin, on September 7. Hide Caption 42 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People survey damage in Marigot on September 7. Hide Caption 43 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Bluebeard's Castle, a resort in St. Thomas, was hit hard by Irma. St. Thomas resident David Velez sent this photo to CNN on September 7. Hide Caption 44 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Irma ruined these vehicles in St. Thomas. Hide Caption 45 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Waves smash into St. Martin on Wednesday, September 6. Hide Caption 46 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man looks at a vehicle turned upside down in the British territory of Anguilla. Hide Caption 47 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean An aerial view of St. Martin on September 6. Hide Caption 48 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Damaged cars are seen on a St. Martin beach on September 6. Hide Caption 49 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A boat is washed onto shore in St. Martin. Hide Caption 50 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Cars are piled up in Marigot on September 6. Hide Caption 51 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man walks past damaged buildings in St. Martin on September 6. Hide Caption 52 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A car is flipped onto its side in Marigot. Hide Caption 53 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Broken palm trees are scattered on a Marigot beach on September 6. Hide Caption 54 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Irma floods a beach in Marigot on September 6. Hide Caption 55 of 55

The living conditions aren't perfect and they can be "cramped," he said. But the evacuees are safe and the young people from Barbuda will be going to school in Antigua, for the time being.

"It's government facilities in which they are being located. We've opened some others. We've taken a nursing home for instance and converted that into accommodation and Antiguans have been very generous in opening their homes to some of the Barbudans, particularly those with young children," he told PRI.

The government believes that while some Barbudans might choose to stay in Antigua even after their island is rebuilt, many will want to go home.

It's a small island, 62 square miles, and its residents have a strong sense of belonging. That's where their ancestors are buried, Sanders said.

"Generations of people have lived on that island. They know nothing else. The commitment to that island is extremely strong. They have a strong sense of who they are," he told CNN.

The government intends to rebuild the island, which will take time. International humanitarian help is needed in what is a gargantuan job, Sanders said, adding that the small island community can't rebuild without such assistance.

Rebuilding

Prominent voices, such as actor Robert de Niro, are urging help for the island . Wealthy individuals have made donations that add up to around $5 million or more and countries have come forward with immediate relief.

The country is thankful for the help but Sanders notes that a few million dollars is a "drop in the bucket." A massive effort is required, he told CNN.

"We're a $1 billion economy facing a $250 million problem," he said. "We need to look at how we get this island back into shape."

He can't give a timetable for any of the steps to rebuild. It all depends on how much funding the country can raise.

The first thing to do now is clean up so construction can start on buildings strong enough to withstand hurricanes.

"The island is not exactly safe for anything to happen," he told CNN, saying it is filled with dead animals, water flies and rubbish everywhere.

Electricity must be re-established and water needs to flow again.

Antigua and Barbuda is in a different situation from other hard-hit Caribbean islands that are territories of larger and richer nations that can step in to help rebuild: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, for example.

"Antigua is a tiny place, and we have no godfather," Sanders told CNN.

Officials are envisioning assembling a donors conference, he said, where international agencies and nations would plan a rebuilding initiative.

He said it makes sense for larger industrial nations to help out his small and pristine country because of climate change.

"We are the victims of greenhouse gases. We contribute little to pollution," he told CNN. "We are hoping our neighboring countries can respond."

JUST WATCHED Barbuda PM: Unprecedented level of destruction Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Barbuda PM: Unprecedented level of destruction 01:46

The country would have been hurt even worse if Antigua had taken the same kind of beating from Irma that Barbuda did, Sanders said. But it has been spared and the tourist industry is still functioning well.

"Antigua remains open for business," he told CNN.

Sanders describes the "remarkable beauty" of Barbuda and its beaches.

"Crystal clear water with pink sand beaches. You stand in that water up to your neck and you can look down and see your toes," he said.

While rebuilding Barbuda is a daunting task, the alternative of abandoning the island is "crazy," Sanders said.

It would become a haven for drug traffickers if it is left alone.

"The island has to be secure. It has to be populated. It has to be policed," he told CNN. </s> Hurricane Irma wiped out the entire island of Barbuda. “For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda”, Ronald Sanders, the Antigua and Barbuda ambassador to the United States, revealed to Public Radio International.

All 1,800 residents of Barbuda evacuated the Caribbean island ahead of the monstrous storm, that destroyed nearly every structure of the 62 mile island. Sanders admitted that the island or the people didn’t stand a chance for the “monster”. Most of the inhabitants are staying on Antigua now. It will take about $200 million to repair Barbuda and the small island is unable to recover by itself.

We are a small island community — the gross domestic product of Antigua is $1 billion a year. We cannot afford to take on this responsibility by ourselves. Barbuda is not just a disaster, it’s a humanitarian crisis. We are hopeful that the international community will come to our aid, not because we’re begging for something we want, but because we’re begging for something that is needed.
The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne says the island of Barbuda has been almost entirely wiped out by Hurricane Irma and is "barely habitable", with "90 percent" of all structures destroyed.