In pictures: Irma ravages Caribbean

AFPHurricane Irma has destroyed homes and businesses across the Caribbean. This is the scene on one street in Saint-Martin

Handout/ RCI Guadeloupe"It is an enormous disaster, 95% of the island is destroyed. I am in shock," Saint-Martin official Daniel Gibbs said in a radio interview

Ron Gurney/Handout via REUTERSIn the British Virgin Islands, winds and waves pushed boats against the shore
A picture taken by the BBC's Laura Bicker shows the trail of destruction in Barbuda

AFP/QUENTIN LIOUHomes were levelled and power cables toppled on the French-administered territory of Saint Barthélemy

ReutersPowerful winds across the Dominican Republic left more than 100 buildings destroyed and 17 districts cut off, according to officials

ReutersIn neighbouring Haiti, many roads were blocked or damaged by the storm, hindering recovery operations

AFPA British Army team arrived on the battered island of Anguilla to organise a relief operation

HandoutThe Dutch military released aerial pictures showing the devastation on Sint-Maarten

Getty ImagesThese palm tree were ripped from the ground in Puerto Rico

AFP/ Getty ImagesResidents in Key West, Florida, have boarded up and left their homes under a mandatory evacuation order

AFP/ Getty ImagesSome shops in Florida ran out of bottled water and there are reports of fights breaking out between desperate shoppers