With thousands of buildings destroyed and even more people displaced, these past two weeks have been truly devastating for those affected by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys and Miami early Sunday, and Naples is expected to get the brunt of the storm as it is expected to be closest to the eye. According to the Wall Street Journal, there have already been 3 casualties and wind speeds have been reported over 130mph.
Just two weeks ago, Hurricane Harvey tore through 280 miles around Houston and the Texas-Louisiana border and dumped a record 27 trillion gallons of rain on the state.
14 people died as a result of Hurricane Harvey, 3,500 people were rescued, and 30,000 people are displaced as a result. These numbers do not even begin to explain the devastation of losing one’s entire life, home, and city.
Irma caused its own path of destruction on Wednesday as it ripped through the Caribbean and coastal Florida.
The U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Martin, Barbuda, Anguilla, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Turks and Caicos Islands were all affected.
NBC estimates that 90% of the buildings in Barbuda have been destroyed and the island is essentially ‘inhabitable.’ St. Martin is also mostly destroyed and it is reported that there are $1.44 billion in damages. Also there were 22 people fatalities in the Caribbean as a result of Irma.
Irma made landfall in Cuba on Friday, becoming the first category 5 hurricane to hit the area since 1924. Turks and Caicos experienced some of the worst winds since the eye passed so close to the south. Extreme winds reached above 150mph and waves rose from 6 to 23 feet.
This is the most catastrophic storm to ever hit the Caribbean islands, and the United Nations estimates that up to 37 million people have been affected.
Irma was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane but later regained strength and became a category 4 before hitting Florida early Sunday. 6.3 million people were ordered to evacuate and over 100,000 people are in shelters.