Hurricane Irma 'totally demolished' 90% of Barbuda - and the island is under hurricane watch again

ABS News

Early Wednesday morning, Hurricane Irma engulfed the tiny island of Barbuda and its population of around 1,800 with tornado-force, 185-mph, Category 5 winds and storm surge.

The destruction was so severe that instruments measuring the storm were destroyed and the island was completely cut off from communication.

After initially surveying the damage, Gaston Browne, prime minister of the dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, said the island was "totally demolished" and that 90% of buildings were destroyed.

At least one fatality was confirmed.

There are few photos of damage in Barbuda so far - at least one widely shared video that claimed to show Irma was actually more than a year old.

But satellites captured the eye of the storm moving over the island.

And ABS Television Antigua captured footage of some of the initial damage as well.

ABS News

In some cases, buildings were totally flattened.

ABS News

Browne described the island as "literally a rubble" and said there was no water or phone service on the island. He told Anderson Cooper that it might take an estimated $100 million to rebuild.

Hurricane Irma caused similar damage on St. Martin and St. Barts islands and had serious impacts in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as well.

Irma is currently moving towards the Turks and Caicos Islands and Florida with still-catastrophic intensity. It has moved on from Antigua and Barbuda, but the islands are already under hurricane watch again from Hurricane Jose, which is expected to become a major Category 3 storm by Friday.