Days after Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc across the Caribbean and several U.S. states, government officials and residents are beginning to assess the widespread damage, pick up the pieces, and figure out their next steps. For some Caribbean islands, like Saint Martin, the destruction is nearly total, with evacuations underway as officials try to rebuild basic infrastructure. FEMA reports that 25 percent of all homes in the Florida Keys were destroyed, while 65 percent were significantly damaged.
The Wreckage Left in Irma's Path Across the Caribbean and Southeastern United States
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The St. Johns River rises from storm surge floodwaters from Hurricane Irma on September 11, 2017, in Jacksonville, Florida. Flooding in downtown Jacksonville along the river topped a record set during Hurricane Dora in 1965. #
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A before-and-after pair of satellite photos of Virgin Gorda island (click image to view transition). The winds of Hurricane Irma stripped away almost every bit of green foliage from the island, leaving it looking brown in this recent satellite view. This combo of natural-color images from NASA's Earth Observatory shows Virgin Gorda before the the passage of Hurricane Irma, on August 25, and (click to fade) after the storm passed, on September 10, 2017. #
Joshua Stevens / NASA Earth Observatory -
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Children's bicycles sit in floodwater outside a home, as Ezequiel Cruz retrieves belongings in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, in Bonita Springs, Florida, on September 12, 2017. #
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A soldier of the French Gendarmerie chases alleged looters as they run past Hurricane Irma wreckage, on the French island of Saint Martin, near Marigot, on September 8, 2017. #
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Alfonso Jose Jr., 2, is floated down his flooded street by his parents as they wade through water to reach an open convenience store in the wake of Hurricane Irma in Bonita Springs, Florida, on September 12, 2017. #
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Two days after Hurricane Irma, Rodriquez Benjamin, 86, stands in his the doorway to his room waiting for help to arrive, without power, food, or water, at Cypress Run, an assisted living facility in Immokalee, Florida, on September 12, 2017. #
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A view of buildings partially destroyed by Irma, during the visit of France's President Emmanuel Macron, on the French Caribbean island of St. Martin, on September 12, 2017. #
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Florida Army National Guard Captain Adam Cockrell and Private First Class Daniel Jimenez from Delta Company, 1st Battallion, 124th Infantry, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, inspect vehicles left on a bridge connecting Big Pine Key and No Name Key in Marathon, Florida, on September 12, 2017. Working in conjunction with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, the guardsmen traveled up and down the Keys all night to deter looting and to make safety checks on residents. #
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Cars wait in line for gas station in Orient Bay, Saint Martin, days after the island sustained extensive damage after the passing of Hurricane Irma, on September 12, 2017. #
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The destroyed Methodist church in Marigot, Saint Martin, days after the island sustained extensive damage after the passing of Hurricane Irma, on September 12, 2017. #
Jose Jimenez / Getty -
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Sister Margaret Ann holds a chainsaw near Miami, Florida, on September 12, 2017. Police said the nun was cutting trees to clear the roadways around Archbishop Coleman Carrol High School in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. #
Miami-Dade Police Department via AP -
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Patty Purdo (left) hugs a friend as she surveys the damage caused to her trailer home from Hurricane Irma at the Seabreeze Trailer Park in Islamorada, in the Florida Keys, on September 12, 2017. #
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Pastor Louicesse Dorsaint stands with his wife Maria Dorsaint in front of their church, Haitian United Evangelical Mission, which was damaged by flooding from Hurricane Irma, in Immokalee, Florida, on September 12, 2017. #
Stephen Yang / Reuters -
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