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Before and After Images of Hurricane Irma's Destruction in Barbuda and the Virgin Islands

By Jonathan Erdman

September 12,2017

Hurricane Irma's devastation in the Caribbean is being further revealed by new aerial imagery.

(COMPLETE HURRICANE IRMA COVERAGE:Hurricane Central)

DigitalGlobe released images taken over the northern Leeward Islands,the Virgin Islands,parts of Puerto Rico,the Dominican Republic,the Turks and Caicos,and Great Inagua Island taken Sept. 8-10.

Here is a sampling of some of the features we noticed in this imagery.

(MORE:Irma's Historical Benchmarks Exceeded)

Codrington,Barbuda

According to UNOSAT,88 percent of structures in Barbuda were possibly damaged,representing over 1,000 buildings.

Barbuda Coastal Cuts

In a statement on September 6,Barbuda and Antigua's Prime Minister Gaston Browne said catastrophic damage left parts of the Caribbean "practically uninhabitable."

Before/after images of beach cuts from Hurricane Irma on the northwest coast of Barbuda,in September 2017. Faint gray arrows point to the beach cuts.
(Digital Globe/Google Earth)

Storm Runoff,Vegetation Stripped

Many of the post-storm images show vegetation stripped by the Category 5 hurricane as it nailed the northern Leeward Islands,Virgin Islands,Turks and Caicos,and Great Inagua Island.

(MORE:Satellite Images of Irma as a Category 5 Hurricane)

Before/after images of the island of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands after Hurricane Irma,in September 2017. Red arrows denote runoff from heavy rainfall which drained into the near coastal waters off the southern coast.
(Digital Globe/Google Earth)

British Virgin Island Beach Trashed

This beach on the island of Tortola was scoured by Irma. Note in addition to the stripped vegetation,the push of sand inland and some damaged buildings,as well.

Before/after images of damage from Hurricane Irma in Cane Garden Bay Beach on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands,in September 2017. The white arrow highlights an area where the surge pushed beyond the first row of buildings at the beach.
(Digital Globe/Google Earth)

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at www.weathernow24.com and has been an incurable weather geek since a tornado narrowly missed his childhood home in Wisconsin at age 7. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.