(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.

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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. Hide Caption 1 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean 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. Hide Caption 2 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson talks to a resident of Anguilla during a visit on September 13. Hide Caption 3 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People collect food that was delivered by emergency workers in the Sandy Ground area of Marigot, St. Martin, on Tuesday, September 12. Hide Caption 4 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Buildings are destroyed in St. Martin on September 12. Hide Caption 5 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with St. Martin residents during a visit to the island on September 12. Hide Caption 6 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean French soldiers patrol St. Martin on September 12. Hide Caption 7 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A person works to clean up a street September 12 after Hurricane Irma flooded parts of Havana, Cuba. Hide Caption 8 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man makes repairs in Havana on September 12. Hide Caption 9 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean This Marigot church was among the buildings destroyed in the storm. Hide Caption 10 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Cubans affected by Hurricane Irma line up to collect drinking water in Isabela de Sagua, Cuba, on Monday, September 11. Hide Caption 11 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Dutch King Willem-Alexander, front right, tours damage in St. Maarten on September 11. Hide Caption 12 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A palm tree sticks out of a pool on the French side of St. Martin on September 11. Hide Caption 13 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean 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. Hide Caption 14 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People line up for supplies in St. Martin on September 11. Hide Caption 15 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean The skeleton of a boat drifts in St. Martin's Simpson Bay on September 11. Hide Caption 16 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People salvage material from the remains of a house in Isabela de Sagua on September 11. Hide Caption 17 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Members of the British Army provide support on Tortola, one of the British Virgin Islands. Hide Caption 18 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A woman carries a dog at an airport checkpoint in St. Martin on September 11. Hide Caption 19 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People wade through a flooded street as a wave crashes in Havana on Sunday, September 10. Hide Caption 20 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Two men search through the rubble of their St. Martin restaurant on September 10. Hide Caption 21 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People make their way through debris in the Cojimar neighborhood of Havana on September 10. Hide Caption 22 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People board a plane leaving St. Martin on September 10. Hide Caption 23 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man wades through a flooded street in Havana on September 10. Hide Caption 24 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean An overview of Havana shows flooded streets on Saturday, September 9. Hide Caption 25 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A woman surveys flooding in Havana on September 9. Hide Caption 26 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A boat rests in a cemetery after Irma tore through Marigot, St. Martin. Hide Caption 27 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Residents return home after Irma passed through Caibarien, Cuba, on September 9. Hide Caption 28 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man walks in Caibarien on September 9. Hide Caption 29 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man carries a child through a flooded street in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, on Friday, September 8. Hide Caption 30 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man walks on a St. Martin street covered in debris on September 8. Hide Caption 31 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A damaged home is tilted onto its side on the Puerto Rican island of Culebra on Thursday, September 7. Hide Caption 32 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A home is surrounded by debris in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7. Hide Caption 33 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Irma damage is seen in St. Martin's Orient Bay on September 7. Hide Caption 34 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Employees from an electrical company work to clear a fallen tree in Sanchez, Dominican Republic. Hide Caption 35 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A woman makes her way through debris in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on September 7. Hide Caption 36 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean In this image made from video, damaged houses are seen in St. Thomas on September 7. Hide Caption 37 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean The storm left widespread destruction on the island of Barbuda on September 7. Hide Caption 38 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A flattened home is seen in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7. Hide Caption 39 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Nagua residents ride through an area affected by the storm on September 7. Hide Caption 40 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Trash and debris is washed ashore in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on September 7. Hide Caption 41 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People walk through damage in Marigot, St. Martin, on September 7. Hide Caption 42 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean People survey damage in Marigot on September 7. Hide Caption 43 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean 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. Hide Caption 44 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Irma ruined these vehicles in St. Thomas. Hide Caption 45 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Waves smash into St. Martin on Wednesday, September 6. Hide Caption 46 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man looks at a vehicle turned upside down in the British territory of Anguilla. Hide Caption 47 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean An aerial view of St. Martin on September 6. Hide Caption 48 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Damaged cars are seen on a St. Martin beach on September 6. Hide Caption 49 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A boat is washed onto shore in St. Martin. Hide Caption 50 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Cars are piled up in Marigot on September 6. Hide Caption 51 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A man walks past damaged buildings in St. Martin on September 6. Hide Caption 52 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean A car is flipped onto its side in Marigot. Hide Caption 53 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Broken palm trees are scattered on a Marigot beach on September 6. Hide Caption 54 of 55 Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean Irma floods a beach in Marigot on September 6. Hide Caption 55 of 55

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."

JUST WATCHED Barbuda PM: Unprecedented level of destruction Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 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.</s>Hurricane victims on the devastated Caribbean island of St Maarten are running short of food, with destroyed and looted supermarkets infested with maggots.

MailOnline visited the popular Le Grand Marche supermarket at Cole Bay, the biggest on the island, and found post-apocalyptic scenes.

Rancid meat lay in the aisles, crawling with maggots. Fetid pools of stagnant water and rotting food in the 40 degree heat gave off a stomach-churning stench.

Much of the supplies had been looted as lawlessness gripped the island in the days after the storm. What was left had quickly gone off and began to rot.

Desperate residents are forced to rely on aid handouts, but with supply lines down and infrastructure shattered, very little is getting through.

'We don't have enough supplies, and what supplies we do have are hard to distribute throughout the island because of the destruction,' Lieutenant Colonel Harro de Vries, commander of the Dutch forces on the island, told MailOnline.

'We are having to hand out military supplies of our own.'

We sent up a drone to capture footage revealing the scale of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Irma after St Maarten was destroyed by 225mph winds.

Thousands of homes across the island have been flattened, while luxury yachts moored in marinas have been sunk or driven on shore by the hurricane-force winds.

Locals have been forced to queue for basic aid and even water as the island's infrastructure has been utterly destroyed by the hurricane.

Others have been forced to arm themselves to protect their property as widespread looting has been reported.

MailOnline was among the first to reach the stricken island, travelling 100miles from Antigua by speedboat because the airport was destroyed.

Our drone exposed the scale of the carnage, with top-of-the-range pleasure boats flung onto dry land or piled on top of each other by the wind.

Entire houses had been flattened. Thousands of people could be seen stuck in traffic jams as they desperately tried to secure for basic necessities before the three o’clock curfew.

We found half-empty supermarkets filled with stinking pools of fetid water, the broken fridges holding meat crawling with maggots. Families were living on cornflakes and meagre aid handouts from the Dutch military.

Looting and lawlessness has wreaked havoc on the island, with gun-toting gangs marauding through the smashed streets and robbing people of what little they have left.

The island, which is 1,200 miles south east of Miami, Florida is split between the French section on the north, which is called St Martin and the Dutch administered area on the south, named St Maarten.

St Maarten is famous for its Princess Juliana International Airport because arriving aircraft pass at low level above the Maho beach. Thrillseekers often stand behind the runaway and get blasted by the jet wash of aircraft preparing to take off.

The Dutch and French armies have deployed soldiers onto the streets in a desperate attempt to maintain order and enforce the curfew. On Thursday, police promised ‘quick and swift punishment’ for looters, arresting eight people for remaining on the streets after 3pm and other offences, including the possession of drugs.

Motorists are forced to queue for more than six hours at petrol stations, making the theft of petrol has become a scourge of ordinary people trying to rebuild their lives.

One Dutch marine, who gave his name as John Cheese, 24, slammed the Red Cross, saying that soldiers were being forced to ‘play policeman, social worker, soldier, nurse and doctor’ because the NGO was not responding adequately to the crisis.

‘They’re not doing sh**,’ he told MailOnline. ‘We are having to give people our own rations and water because the Red Cross is not providing supplies. We are using our own surgical gloves and equipment.

‘How are we supposed to keep order on the island when we are having to do aid work to cover for the Red Cross?’

Eighty-two elderly and vulnerable people remained in the care of the Dutch army while looters and thieves run amok elsewhere on the island in areas like Middle Region, he said.

Mechanic Mr Marcus, 55, was camping out in the wreckage of his house to protect it from looters, armed with a gun.

‘After the storm, a box came floating on the water to me,’ he told MailOnline. ‘God sent it to me. Inside was some flares, a fishing kit and a lifeboat tent. Now that has become my home-inside-a-home.

‘Our roof was torn off so everything gets soaked when it rains. I spend the night in this tent with my two friends: my gun and my radio.’

He had already used the weapon to deter looters, he said. ‘In the middle of the night, I heard the gate moving and saw a man coming up the stairs,’ he said. ‘I got my gun and as soon as he saw the nickel and chrome, he did a circle and ran off. He vanished so quickly I thought he had flown away.’

Mr Marcus and his wife, Maureen de la Friente, 52, had their lives saved by a mattress when the hurricane hit last Tuesday night. The roof of their house was ripped off and everything inside their home began to fly about in the 225mph winds.

‘We grabbed our two chihuahuas and our son and lay on the floor under the mattress,’ Mr Marcus told MailOnline. ‘The dogs were panting and trembling with fear. We were terrified.

‘When the roof went, the hurricane came inside the house. Everything started flying. Chunks of brick and concrete were thudding on the mattress, which saved our lives for sure. The hurricane door, which is supposed to protect us, shot off and ended up inside the stove.’

Their son, Kytho Marcus, 21, said that the family were forced to shower at a burst pipe down the road, along with the rest of the local community.

‘We’ve had our own bathroom for our entire lives and now we’re forced to have a shower with an audience of 30 people,’ he said.

Relatives of the family, who live in Holland, are constantly asking them to join the thousands of other residents fleeing the disaster zone to set up a new life in a safer country.

‘My family wants us to go back to Holland or Surinam,’ Mrs de la Friente said. ‘But we refuse to go. We are not like that. We are not begging. We would prefer to die from hunger than beg.’

Down the road from their wrecked house, the Audi showroom was taking an urgent inventory to establish how many vehicles had been stolen or damaged during the hurricane.

Outside was a brand new, black Audi TT which had been dented and scratched by the storm. Its windscreen had also been smashed.

‘It feels like my babies have been damaged,’ said Dylan Smith, 37, the brand and logistics manager at the showroom.

‘Some people care more about cars than about humans, more even than their family. This car is worth $65,000 and it has sustained $6,000 worth of damage.’

He added: ‘It’s not fun and games, that’s for sure. But we are all helping each other, and we will get through this.’</s>Barbuda has been left completely devastated by Hurricane Irma. An estimated 95% of Barbuda’s structures are damaged, and the entire island of around 1,800 people has been evacuated.

“The damage is complete,” says Ambassador Ronald Sanders, who has served as Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the U.S. since 2015. “For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda — a civilization that has existed on that island for over 300 years has now been extinguished.”Read More….https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/14/barbuda-hurricane-irama-devastation/665950001/</s>“Not a single living person” remains on the Caribbean island of Barbuda following the devastation of Hurricane Irma, the island’s ambassador to the U.S. says.

“The damage is complete,” Ronald Sanders, who has been Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States since 2015, told USA Today.

“For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda — a civilization that has existed on that island for over 300 years has now been extinguished.”

Places affected by Irma — one of the most powerful storms ever observed in the Atlantic — included Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and Florida.

But perhaps none were affected more than Barbuda. All 62 square miles of the island were engulfed by the 378-mile-wide catastrophic hurricane, USA Today reported.

Sanders described it as the “most ferocious, cruel and merciless storm” the island had ever experienced.

Evacuees, including 500 children, were sent to Antigua, and were living in cramped government quarters and nursing homes, which Sanders said was “unacceptable.” But they will remain there for the foreseeable future as Barbuda faces a “mammoth task” to rebuild.

Sanders is seeking help from around the world to aid in recovery efforts, with initial estimates at around $200 million, USA Today reported.

“We are a small island community — the gross domestic product of Antigua is $1 billion a year,” he told USA Today. “We cannot afford to take on this responsibility by ourselves. Barbuda is not just a disaster, it’s a humanitarian crisis. We are hopeful that the international community will come to our aid, not because we’re begging for something we want, but because we’re begging for something that is needed.”</s>Hurricane Irma wiped out the entire island of Barbuda. “For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda”, Ronald Sanders, the Antigua and Barbuda ambassador to the United States, revealed to Public Radio International.

All 1,800 residents of Barbuda evacuated the Caribbean island ahead of the monstrous storm, that destroyed nearly every structure of the 62 mile island. Sanders admitted that the island or the people didn’t stand a chance for the “monster”. Most of the inhabitants are staying on Antigua now. It will take about $200 million to repair Barbuda and the small island is unable to recover by itself.

We are a small island community — the gross domestic product of Antigua is $1 billion a year. We cannot afford to take on this responsibility by ourselves. Barbuda is not just a disaster, it’s a humanitarian crisis. We are hopeful that the international community will come to our aid, not because we’re begging for something we want, but because we’re begging for something that is needed.</s>(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."

A home in Barbuda, one of many destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

Antigua and Barbuda -- which is 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.

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 said.

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."

The government believes that while some Barbudans might choose to stay in Antigua even after their island is rebuilt, others will go home.

"The Barbudan community has been there on that island for generations -- over 300 years," Sanders said. "So there is a very strong feeling that Barbuda is their homeland and yes they will want to go back to Barbuda. Plus that is where all of their possessions are. That's where their ancestors are buried. That's where they were born. The sense of identification with Barbuda is very powerful and they will want to go back."

The government intends to rebuild the island, which will take time. International humanitarian help is needed in the "mammoth task," Sanders said, adding that the small island community can't rebuild without such assistance.

"We're going to have to keep this going for some time because Barbuda's not going to be rebuilt in a hurry, and when we do rebuild it, we're going to have to rebuild to massive hurricane standards. This is going to take a while. There is no electricity there, there is no potable water anymore, there is no structure in which people can survive," Sanders said.

The country would have been in "great trouble" if Antigua had taken the same kind of beating from Irma that Barbuda did, Sanders said.

"Fortunately, Antigua remains open for business so tourism and so on is still continuing but had we not had that and had we not had that income I have no idea how we would have survived," he said.

The key to rebuilding is to make sure all of the structures, "can withstand hurricane forces of the kind and magnitude we've seen because we believe climate change is here to stay," Sanders said.

"Barbuda has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world incidentally and it's 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. "So it's a beautiful place for tourism."</s>Barbuda has been left completely devastated by Hurricane Irma. An estimated 95% of Barbuda’s structures are damaged, and the entire island of around 1,800 people has been evacuated.

“The damage is complete,” says Ambassador Ronald Sanders, who has served as Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the U.S. since 2015. “For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda — a civilization that has existed on that island for over 300 years has now been extinguished.”

According to Sanders, Irma was “the most ferocious, cruel and merciless storm” in the island’s history. The hurricane was 378 miles wide when it descended on Barbuda, which is just 62 square miles.

“This was a huge monster,” he says. “The island and the people on the island had absolutely no chance.”

Evacuees from Barbuda were sent to Antigua, which did not suffer the same level of damage from Irma.

“We’ve had most of the people we’ve brought over to Antigua in shelters,” says Sanders. “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.”

Though Barbudan evacuees are safe, Sanders says the situation is not ideal — people are living in cramped quarters in government facilities and nursing homes, including some 500 school-aged children. Now that school is back in session, Antigua must find room for these students.

“The situation is unacceptable, and it’s costly,” he says. “We’re going to have to keep this going for sometime because Barbuda’s not going to be rebuilt in a hurry, and when we do rebuild it, we’re going to have to rebuild to massive hurricane standards. This is going to take a while. There is no electricity there, there is no potable water anymore, there is no structure in which people can survive. We have a mammoth task on our hands.”

Sanders says the world must step up and help Barbuda.

“We are a small island community — the gross domestic product of Antigua is $1 billion a year,” he says. “We cannot afford to take on this responsibility by ourselves. Barbuda is not just a disaster, it’s a humanitarian crisis. We are hopeful that the international community will come to our aid, not because we’re begging for something we want, but because we’re begging for something that is needed.”

Right now, initial estimates suggest that Barbuda will need about $200 million to recover. Antigua and Barbuda will create a sustainable development plan for rebuilding Barbuda, Sanders says, adding that he hopes the global community will provide humanitarian recovery aid.

“We have declared a state of emergency in Barbuda because it is a complete disaster and uninhabitable,” he says. “We cannot cope with our own resources alone.”

In addition to financial aid, Sanders says the global community must also stand up to climate change.

“We believe climate change is here to stay — it’s a reality, despite all of the naysayers,” he says. “We know that these things have occurred as a result of the profligacy of the countries that are rich, and have abused the system. We, unfortunately, who contribute less than naught point naught percent of pollution of the world’s atmosphere, are the world’s greatest victims.”

This story first aired as an interview on PRI's The Takeaway.</s>For the first time in 300 years, there's not a single living person on the island of Barbuda after Hurricane Irma. Veuer's Nick Cardona (@nickcardona93) has that story.</s>(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.

A home in Barbuda, one of many destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

Antigua and Barbuda -- which is 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.

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 Antigua to Barbuda and said others went to Antigua on their own.

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.

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."

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.

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.</s>Ambassador Ronald Sanders, the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda's ambassador to the United States, delivered a chilling report on the status of his country in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

"The damage is complete," Sanders told PRI's The Takeaway. "For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda — a civilization that has existed on that island for over 300 years has now been extinguished."

Hurricane Irma hit Barbuda on September 6 as a category 5 tropical cyclone. The 400 mile-across storm entirely swallowed the 62 square mile island, and laid waste to 95 percent of the island's structures.

“This was a huge monster,” Sanders added. “The island and the people on the island had absolutely no chance.”

Residents evacuated to neighboring Antigua where they are being housed in shelters. The only living creatures on the island are now pets and livestock. The organization World Animal Protection is attempting to feed and rescue the animals.

Sanders told PRI he estimates that reconstruction could cost $300 million, and will take time. That's because rebuilding Barbuda won't be a simple matter of replacing what was once there. Instead, Barbuda must be reconstituted for a world in which another Irma might be possible.

Hurricane Irma struck Barbuda as a ferociously intense Category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour.

The ambassador called upon the international community to provide aid, because Barbuda simply does not have the resources to rebuild. The GDP of Barbuda is $1.4 billion, compared to the United States' $18.57 trillion.

“We have declared a state of emergency in Barbuda because it is a complete disaster and uninhabitable,” he says. “We cannot cope with our own resources alone.”

Before and After Images of Hurricane Irma's Destruction in Barbuda and the Virgin Islands. https://t.co/diSogP3ZRw #StormHour pic.twitter.com/NU9dJVxubi He also explicitly linked the need for assistance to climate change. By raising sea levels and increasing ocean and air temperatures, global warming can increase the damage wrought by hurricanes. Irma, for example, was the most powerful storm on record to strike the northern Leeward Islands, and the most powerful ever observed in the Atlantic outside of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Because developed nations disproportionately contribute to global warming through their emissions of greenhouse gases, Sanders indicated that aid is an economic imperative. SEE ALSO: How Hurricane Irma became a monstrous, record-shattering storm, and stayed that way “We believe climate change is here to stay — it’s a reality, despite all of the naysayers,” he says. “We know that these things have occurred as a result of the profligacy of the countries that are rich, and have abused the system. We, unfortunately, who contribute less than naught point naught percent of pollution of the world’s atmosphere, are the world’s greatest victims.” If you ant to help Barbuda rebuild, check out how to assist with Hurricane Irma recovery here.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the island of Barbuda is fully depopulated for the first time in 300 years.