00:00Nassin Tened, Chairlady of the Barbada Council.
00:06Where to begin? Where to start?
00:08This is just one word, epic.
00:11What we experience is like something you see in a horror movie.
00:15It's something that you watch on TV, but not something you expect to actually happen in reality.
00:22I mean, persons were literally running from house to house.
00:25And we had cars flying over our heads. We had containers, 40-foot containers, flying left and right.
00:32And the story that you're getting from most of the residents here is that the eye of the storm came
00:39just in time.
00:40Persons were literally tying themselves to their roofs with ropes to keep them down, holding on.
00:48It has been surreal devastation on the Sister Isle.
00:52This has been the result of Hurricane Irma's fury, a powerful Atlantic storm, one of the most powerful on record.
01:01185 mile per hour winds crashing into the Sister Isle. That has been the result.
01:06Mr. Prime Minister, let's unpack what happened, the immensity of the destruction in Barbuda.
01:12So, what happened to the residents while all of this happened?
01:16Where were they when all of this destruction happened?
01:18Well, they were in their homes and they took the necessary precautions.
01:22In fact, I was speaking to the chair lady of the Barbuda Council up until about 1.30 a.m.
01:28this morning.
01:28And up to that point, she had indicated that all was well.
01:32A little late in the morning, I was told that residents had actually communicated that a few roofs were lost.
01:38But when you're on the ground and certainly in the dark of night, it would have been difficult for them
01:43to give an accurate assessment to the extent of the damage.
01:46So, we have the view here that perhaps the damage would have been limited, not recognizing, having done the aerial
01:51view, that the entire housing stock was damaged.
01:56And we have to raise a significant amount of resources now to rebuild Barbuda and to restore it to normalcy.
02:02The good thing about it is that we had already made some contingency plans.
02:06I have to admit that at one point, we thought that they may not have been necessary.
02:10We did not cancel them.
02:12We have actually delayed some of them because we weren't too sure of the extent of the damage in Barbuda.
02:17It means now that we will activate those mechanisms.
02:21So, tomorrow, we have about two cargo planes full of supplies that will be landing here in Antigua.
02:28We had asked the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to assist us in providing two cargo planes, two military planes, to
02:37move some building material probably out of Panama.
02:39So, we will now pursue those options and to make sure that we can move building material into Barbuda as
02:45quickly as possible to start the rebuilding process.
02:49We never really anticipated this level of damage.
02:51I have to admit the standby overdraft facilities that we had from the domestic banks will make what is required
02:58in terms of the amount of funds absolutely pale.
03:01I mean, the amount that they have offered, and we are very grateful, the extent of damage or damages will
03:07make that financial assistance pale,
03:10which means that we have to raise external resources to supplement our domestic resources in order to have a serious
03:18push to rebuild Barbuda.
03:20So, where are the residents now, Prime Minister?
03:22They are shacking up with each other, many of them in some common areas.
03:27That in itself represents a serious health hazard.
03:30In fact, I will go as far as stating that at least probably 60% of the population in Barbuda
03:35is actually homeless.
03:36And even the areas in which they are sheltering, they are damaged homes, so that we are hoping that at
03:42least, you know, they would not suffer from any of the elements between now and tomorrow,
03:46because if there is any significant amount of rains between today and tomorrow, clearly it will create some additional damages.
03:53And we now have a better understanding as to what is happening, and I just want to assure the Barbudan
03:59people that the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda, we are standing with you.
04:03I've asked them to stand in solidarity with each other.
04:06I've asked them to be positive, notwithstanding this disaster, because we always have the view, notwithstanding the challenges, there will
04:13be opportunities to be exploited.
04:14And all we are asking is for them to be patient and to support each other, to be vigilant at
04:20the same time, and to cooperate with the government and the various agencies as we seek to bring some relief
04:26to the Barbudan people.
04:27My name is Rhoda. I grew up in Barbuda. I witnessed Hurricane Louis.
04:35And compared to that, this has been something that I've never imagined experiencing.
04:42It was horrible, it was devastating, it was sad, and it was tragic.
04:49And to see and hear everything that happened, being in the middle of it, being here, it's the most horrible
04:56thing that could happen here or anywhere else in the world.
05:00So, I mean, I just hope that everything can come together quickly, that people can move on and continue to
05:08build.
05:08My name is King Goldilocks. Last night was the most devastating experience I ever had in my life, and I
05:18am almost 60.
05:20I witnessed Hurricane Louis, but it was never like this. This one is the worst and the most devastated, done
05:27more damage to Barbuda than any other storm that we in our lifetime have experienced.
05:33This storm came and did some damage to Barbuda. Really, almost 90% of the houses in Barbuda, who don't
05:43lose the roof, the house crumble.
05:46Some people totally lost, like me. I am homeless.
05:51I am Henrietta Hopkins, and I had a terrible experience last night. I don't wish this on nobody's life, and
05:58I don't want to see a next hour again like this.
06:01Because when I was in the house, the house was boarded up, and something still come and bust the window,
06:07bust the bed in two, and we had to close the door, and it burst off the bedroom door too.
06:13So we had to leave at that place and go to our next house.
06:18Well, Miriam Harris. Well, I think this is the worst Hurricane ever met up in all my life.
06:27I go from 60 to 50 to come down, and I tell you, last night was the worst time in
06:34all my life.
06:35And I would not want to see another Hurricane like this again.
