Jaw-dropping satellite images show historic Hurricane Irma swallowing Caribbean islands

Historic Hurricane Irma has rewritten storm history in the Atlantic Ocean, setting records for its windspeed and its long-lasting Category 5 status. 

As the storm continues to travel through the Atlantic, the first to feel the storm's wrath have been tiny Caribbean islands and the northern Leeward Islands.

Many of these locations experienced catastrophic damage. Winds gusted to 161 mph at Saint Maarten on Wednesday morning, with a wind gust up to 155 mph recorded in Barbuda, before the instrument stopped functioning. 

One of the remarkable scenes that played out on Wednesday has been the wide, nearly calm eye of the storm engulfing these comparatively tiny islands, as if swallowing them whole. Read more...