Satellite photos show how Hurricane Irma denuded entire Caribbean islands

(Image credit: NOAA GOES Project via Getty Images)

Hurricane Irma, now a tropical depression, left much of Florida and parts of Georgia and South Carolina drenched or underwater and without power on Monday, but back when it was a Category 5 hurricane out in the Atlantic, it absolutely decimated several Caribbean Islands. A new time-lapse satellite video from NASA of Irma moving from the mid-Atlantic to Florida shows how the hurricane passed directly over some islands, like Barbuda, and raked others with its long outer bands.

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BuzzFeed News picked out one of the islands, Virgin Gorda, for a close-up:

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You can view higher-resolution photos at NASA Earth Observatory, and before-and-after photos of leveled Caribbean towns at BuzzFeed. At least 38 people died from Irma in the Caribbean and 10 deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.