The island no one knew about: Paradise Lost

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

3-D perspective view of the southeastern US islands, with the white summits of ML (4,170 m or 13,680 ft high) and MK (4,206 m or 13,799 ft high). They are the tops of massive volcanoes, the bulk of which lie below the sea surface. Ocean depths are colored violet... (W)

Caribbean playground of the rich, Barbuda Belle Luxury Beach Hotel (barbudabelle.com)

Caribbean: Lost island paradise of Barbuda, neighbor of Antigua, near Cuba/Florida

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Luxury Beach Hotel: BarbudaBelle.com

How many islands must there be in the world? Too many to count.

Few know that the United States' "state" of Hawaii is in fact more than 1,000 islands? No, it's not! I've seen a map. It's just seven islands. No one talks about all of the tiny US military-controlled islands, islets, rock outcroppings, and atolls that extend for 1,700 miles from Oahu toward Russia and the Bering Straits, just west of Alaska, which were formerly part of Russia next to Sarah Palin's house.

They were kind enough to sell that expansive territory to us, the USA, for a pittance.

Cuba is enormous! Haiti is right there? Who knew S. America was so close to Florida?

Prior to the devastating Hurricane Irma -- which was the strongest Caribbean storm ever to make landfall to prove that hurricanes with female names kick @$$ even if people do not take them seriously and only prepare for tough sounding storms like Jose and Max, while dismissing Katia and Irma -- it used to be paradise.

Where in the world is "Barbuda"?

That'll teach us humans of today with our inculcated sexism and implicit gender bias. The first country this nascent country invaded and took as a colony is a faraway country made up of so many islands that no one has an exact count: no, not Hawaii, but the former US colony of the US Empire, the Philippines.

All of that is well and good: The world has many islands. But who knew the Caribbean was so beautiful and littered with great islands? Moreover, who knew one of them was now the former playground of the rich, Barbuda? Look for pictures and view them with awe.

The Island

Barbuda is was a small island in the eastern Caribbean that forms part of the sovereign Commonwealth nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Its remains are located to the north of Antigua in the middle of the Leeward Islands.

Most of its population of about 1,638 (at the 2011 Census) live in the town of Codrington. Antigua and Barbuda became a sovereign nation on Nov. 1, 1981 but remained part of the British Commonwealth and a constitutional monarchy.

The island has been a tourist destination -- particularly for the idle rich -- because of its moderate climate and beautiful beaches.

 

The location of the island in the tropics makes it vulnerable to Atlantic hurricanes. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma caused catastrophic damage on the island.

The super-storm damaged or destroyed 95% of the island's buildings and infrastructure, leaving Barbuda "barely habitable" according to Prime Minister Gaston Browne. Everyone on the island was evacuated to Antigua, leaving Barbuda uninhabited for the first time in modern history. More