Fears for pregnant Brit woman and sister on island of Barbuda before it was flattened by Hurricane Irma - Welcome to Drimz Media Blog | A Smart Choice for News & Lifestyle Online

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Fears for pregnant Brit woman and sister on island of Barbuda before it was flattened by Hurricane Irma

A pregnant British woman and her former Miss Antigua sister are missing after Hurricane Irma crashed through Barbuda overnight.

Afiya Frank, 27, is due to give birth in November and was booked to fly back to the UK next week because the Caribbean island's tiny hospital cannot deliver her first child.

Her sister Asha Frank, 29, a former beauty queen on Barbuda to help preserve fish in its waters, last texted family back home in Suffolk and London at 10.30pm last night.

Their parents Mackenzie and Claire Frank are on holiday in Britain and are desperate for good news from the island, which has been cut off from the outside world.

Afiya Frank, 27, is due to give birth in November and was booked to fly back to the UK next week  because the Caribbean island's tiny hospital is unable to deliver he first child.Asha Frank, 29, a former beauty queen working on Barbuda to help preserve fish in its waters, last texted family back home in Suffolk and London at 10.30pm last night.
Pregnant Afiya Frank, 27, left, and her former beauty queen sister Asha, 29, right, have not been heard from since Hurricane Irma crashed through Barbuda

Barbuda's prime minister said this morning that most of the island's buildings are no longer standing and some including two-year-old boy are confirmed dead. 
 
The women's aunt Ruth Bolton says that they have not been heard from since the most powerful storm to hit the Atlantic in its history ploughed through the area.
 
She told the Daily Mirror: 'They had boarded up the house that my sister had just finished building with wood and stocked up on water etc.
 
'They are always well prepared for storms in Barbuda. It's a brick house and hopefully stood some of the storm.
 
'We had contact till about 10.30pm our time last night via WhatsApp and then that was it. Nothing since and no way to find out how they are. I just want to hug my nieces and speak to them.' 
 
Hurricane Irma is continuing to tear a deadly path through the Caribbean as the scale of devastation in its wake begins to emerge.
 
The historic storm destroyed nearly all buildings on Barbuda yesterday, killing a two-year-old child as a family tried to escape - before wreaking havoc on the French territories of St Martin and St Barts, leaving at least seven dead.
 
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the UK is 'taking swift action to respond' to the disaster after speaking to the chief minister of Anguilla, a British overseas territory that was among the first islands to be hit.
 
Britons in the region have been urged to follow evacuation orders, while states of emergency have been declared in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Florida - amid fears Miami could be struck directly by the hurricane.

A flooded street in Gustavia on the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Barthelemy today

A flooded street in Gustavia on the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Barthelemy today

Ripped off trees in Gustavia, Saint-Barthelemy,after Irma sowed a trail of deadly devastation

Ripped off trees in Gustavia, Saint-Barthelemy,after Irma sowed a trail of deadly devastation

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