Photo of Barbudan coastline before hurricane Irma. Sailing Nomad/Flickr. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
On Wednesday, 6 September 2017, Barbuda, the less known sister isle of the popular resort island of Antigua, bore the full brunt of Hurricane Irma as it struck the Leeward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean. The island suffered near total destruction: 95% of the island’s buildings were damaged, 60% of the population were rendered homeless, and a 2-year-old child was tragically killed. Antigua, on the older hand, was relatively untouched.
Visiting the island after the winds died down, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Brown received wide acclaim for deciding to evacuate the island before the fast-approaching hurricane Jose had the chance to make landfall as well. Dozens of vessels were involved in a frantic effort to transport nearly 1800 people from Barbuda to shelters on Antigua. Thankfully Jose changed course, turning north at the last minute and missing Barbuda, Antigua and the other Leeward Islands.
