Early on Wednesday, Hurricane Irma engulfed the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda and its population of about 1,800 with tornado-force, 185-mph, Category 5 winds and storm surge, destroying measurement instruments and cutting the island off from communication.
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Barbuda is trying to totally evacuate today ahead of Hurricane Jose after Hurricane Irma 'demolished' 90% of the island
Hurricane Irma 'totally demolished' Barbuda early on Wednesday and now Category 4 Hurricane Jose is headed for the island.
After initially surveying the damage, Gaston Browne, prime minister of the dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, said Barbuda was "totally demolished" and that 90% of its buildings were destroyed.
Now, Category 4 Hurricane Jose is headed for Barbuda and Antigua with 150 mph sustained winds and local officials are trying to evacuate the entire island of Barbuda in the few hours they have to do so.
This is the Caribbean islan... @ Eric Holthaus
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Photos of Irma's damage in Barbuda are just starting to appear — though at least one widely shared video that claimed to show Irma was more than a year old. At least one fatality was confirmed.
But satellites captured the eye of the storm moving over the island.
The eye of Category 5 monst... @ Philip Klotzbach
ABS Television Antigua captured footage of some of the initial damage as well.
In some cases, buildings were flattened.
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Browne described the island as "literally a rubble" and said there was no water or phone service there. He told Anderson Cooper that he estimated it would take $100 million to rebuild.
Hurricane Irma caused similar damage on St. Martin, reportedly destroying 95% of structures, and St. Barts, and affected the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as well.
Now, the question is what Hurricane Jose could do to these already devastated islands.
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