Story highlights
- Antigua island "remains open for business"
- Officials are mulling a donors conference to raise funds
(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.
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.
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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.
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UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson talks to a resident of Anguilla during a visit on September 13.
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People collect food that was delivered by emergency workers in the Sandy Ground area of Marigot, St. Martin, on Tuesday, September 12.
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Buildings are destroyed in St. Martin on September 12.
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French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with St. Martin residents during a visit to the island on September 12.
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French soldiers patrol St. Martin on September 12.
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A person works to clean up a street September 12 after Hurricane Irma flooded parts of Havana, Cuba.
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A man makes repairs in Havana on September 12.
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This Marigot church was among the buildings destroyed in the storm.
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Cubans affected by Hurricane Irma line up to collect drinking water in Isabela de Sagua, Cuba, on Monday, September 11.
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Dutch King Willem-Alexander, front right, tours damage in St. Maarten on September 11.
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A palm tree sticks out of a pool on the French side of St. Martin on September 11.
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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.
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People line up for supplies in St. Martin on September 11.
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The skeleton of a boat drifts in St. Martin's Simpson Bay on September 11.
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People salvage material from the remains of a house in Isabela de Sagua on September 11.
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Members of the British Army provide support on Tortola, one of the British Virgin Islands.
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A woman carries a dog at an airport checkpoint in St. Martin on September 11.
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People wade through a flooded street as a wave crashes in Havana on Sunday, September 10.
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Two men search through the rubble of their St. Martin restaurant on September 10.
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People make their way through debris in the Cojimar neighborhood of Havana on September 10.
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People board a plane leaving St. Martin on September 10.
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A man wades through a flooded street in Havana on September 10.
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An overview of Havana shows flooded streets on Saturday, September 9.
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A woman surveys flooding in Havana on September 9.
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A boat rests in a cemetery after Irma tore through Marigot, St. Martin.
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Residents return home after Irma passed through Caibarien, Cuba, on September 9.
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A man walks in Caibarien on September 9.
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A man carries a child through a flooded street in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, on Friday, September 8.
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A man walks on a St. Martin street covered in debris on September 8.
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A damaged home is tilted onto its side on the Puerto Rican island of Culebra on Thursday, September 7.
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A home is surrounded by debris in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7.
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Irma damage is seen in St. Martin's Orient Bay on September 7.
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Employees from an electrical company work to clear a fallen tree in Sanchez, Dominican Republic.
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A woman makes her way through debris in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on September 7.
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In this image made from video, damaged houses are seen in St. Thomas on September 7.
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The storm left widespread destruction on the island of Barbuda on September 7.
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A flattened home is seen in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7.
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Nagua residents ride through an area affected by the storm on September 7.
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Trash and debris is washed ashore in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on September 7.
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People walk through damage in Marigot, St. Martin, on September 7.
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People survey damage in Marigot on September 7.
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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.
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Irma ruined these vehicles in St. Thomas.
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Waves smash into St. Martin on Wednesday, September 6.
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A man looks at a vehicle turned upside down in the British territory of Anguilla.
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An aerial view of St. Martin on September 6.
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Damaged cars are seen on a St. Martin beach on September 6.
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A boat is washed onto shore in St. Martin.
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Cars are piled up in Marigot on September 6.
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A man walks past damaged buildings in St. Martin on September 6.
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A car is flipped onto its side in Marigot.
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Broken palm trees are scattered on a Marigot beach on September 6.
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Irma floods a beach in Marigot on September 6.
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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."
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.
