By Stephanie Rosenbloom
Some of the most idyllic — and tourism-dependent — destinations in the Caribbean have been crippled in the wake of one of the most powerful Atlantic basin storms ever recorded.
Ferocious storms are nothing new to these islands, but Hurricane Irma, with its 185-mile-per-hour winds, was catastrophic. Cities, and some islands, are almost entirely in ruins.
Certain islands were better prepared than others as the storm roared from Barbuda, part of the country of Antigua and Barbuda in the eastern Caribbean, to the Florida Keys, destroying homes and infrastructure, including roads and hospitals; flooding hotels and restaurants; and leaving people without power, food and essential services.
In the hardest-hit places, like St. Martin and St. John, a slow and arduous recovery is underway. Read more >>