Almost all homes destroyed in Barbuda

[malaise]

Additionally there is massive destruction in St Maarten - the four strongest buildings were destroyed. Word is that the airport is destroyed.
Six dead so far in those two islands.
No word yet on Groper Don the Con's property.

[lpbk2713]

1. This storm is a monster.

Anyone in its path will need a lot of help.

[uppityperson]

2. :(

[ellie]

8. My dad's brother's family

live in Antigua. They have all reported in.

[malaise]

9. That link was bogus

Barbuda wiped out

[Hortensis]

33. Just looked. 1600+ people lived on Barbuda a few years ago,

don't know how many are year-round residents, though.

[marybourg]

11. I married into an Antiguan family and

one of the areas mentioned in the link is actually their family name (not mine. I kept my own). My spouse has no contact with family on the island; his sister was the point of contact and when she died, suddenly and young, that was the end of contact.

on edit: Oh, I'm sorry to see that link gone. I wanted to show my spouse his family name as a place name on the island.

[malaise]

16. I have lots of friends around the islands

Word is that Antigua was spared the worse. Folks are still communicating

[marybourg]

18. Yes I did hear that the 'cane slid by them.

One less island to worry about. But what's happening on Barbuda?

[malaise]

19. Total destruction

Really really bad - same with St Maarten

[MontanaMama]

4. I really try not to wish ill fortune

on anyone...but I hope Irma and karma knock the liver out of dumbass Donnie two scoops place. Not that it'll hurt him any. I feel for regular folks down there. They'll lose everything they have and maybe even friends and family and 45 will still piss and moan that he has it worse than anyone.

[lpbk2713]

6. Mar-a-Lugie isn't his only residence.

If it does get damaged anything he says will be for dramatic effect.

[eleny]

17. Mar-a-Lugie

[MontanaMama]

23. That's my point!

He will make it all about him not matter what happens. He does seem to love it despite it not being his only residence. That said...Mar-a-Lugie! Good one.

[malaise]

20. Join the line

[underpants]

5. I'm surprised it's only 6

But I'm glad it's not more.

[malaise]

12. From a bathroom window in Anguilla

[eleny]

21. At one pont you can't even see the trees well at all

The rain got more thick and furious. It just looked like so much grey. Nice that many could check in with him online with thoughts so evidently kind and caring.

[aeromanKC]

28. and to think this is just 25 minutes of the hours and hours of this storm energy

But remember everybody, Sen. Inholfe made a snowball so No Worries.

[malaise]

29. I don't think I could take that at my age

Gilbert was a wicked hurricane but it was an experience. Ivan barely scratched our East and South Coast and it annoyed me - it just wouldn't go away. I know I won't have a choice but I couldn't tolerate 185mph.

[customerserviceguy]

35. I've always wondered what it would be like

to look at the worst of a hurricane from a window in the daytime, and that video was as close as I want to get!

[Egnever]

39. oof

Just awe inspiring unrelenting raw power.

"I feel for Florida"

Indeed.

[haveahart]

7. Don the con will not be able to flip that property.

[dhill926]

10. and sadly, the news will no doubt get worse.....

[malaise]

34. Look at the airport

Link to tweet

/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newshub.co.nz%2Fhome%2Fworld%2F2017%2F09%2Fst-maarten-s-famous-beachside-airport-heavily-damaged-by-hurricane-irma.html

and note it was the hangars destroyed

[Warpy]

13. yes, one of the videos mentioned that the houses were roofless

as far as the person could see. You can bet Dopey Don's tropical palace is now a good place to stargaze. If not, Jose will finish it off.

And if you go over to YouTube, don't read the comments. One poor woman posted a video of her doors and windows being blown in after the shutters had been blown off and all the comments could do was criticize her language.

I'd like to see all those Prunellas in that situation, bet they wouldn't be saying "oh, fiddlesticks!"

[malaise]

15. Amazing - watch this

[Warpy]

24. "Not pretty outside, not pretty at all"

That's got to be the understatement of the year. At least his windows were holding up, a lot of people weren't that lucky.

We used to tape our windows on the theory that if they blew in, the tape would make the pieces bigger and less likely to fly across the room and cut us to pieces. Even in a minimal hurricane, you can see sliding glass doors bubble inward or outward, the glass deforming from the pressure differential.

I'm so glad I live in the high desert now. Then again, our storms are occasionally firestorms.

[Motley13]

14. stupid question, did POS offer shelter

on his $$$$$$$$$ properties?

[Warpy]

25. Only to the staff, I imagine, which means the caretaker

who takes care of the pool and grounds and chases any riffraff away.

[cwydro]

22. Who gives a shit about his property?

Amazed this is still a thing on DU while people are losing everything.

[B2G]

27. It's getting really old.

But I fully expect celebratory threads if Palm Beach gets devastated simply because he has a property there. The others be damned...I mean, it's a rich community right?

Makes me ill.

[cwydro]

38. Yes.

Some creepy things going on here.

[mcar]

26. Just devastating

I expect the death toll will rise exponentially.

[Roland99]

30. No word yet from a former co-worker who was on St Maarten

[malaise]

31. I saw some photos of the airport

Unbelievable - both sides of the island took a serious hit

[Roland99]

32. :(

[Roland99]

40. Just got word. He's ok and likely evac'd Tue or Wed

[malaise]

41. Great news

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. Antigua and Barbuda PM - Barbuda 'barely habitable', may evacuate island before Jose hits

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-latin-america-41183962/hurricane-irma-barbuda-barely-habitable-says-pm

Video from a helicopter at the link.

[malaise]

37. He is not my favourite Caribbean leader but when I heard on local news that he

flew over to Barbuda in pretty bad weather, I was impressed.

Thanks for your link