[3] The eye of the hurricane traveled over the three major islands in the group: Virgin Gorda, Tortola and Jost Van Dyke.

[4] The Governor, Gus Jaspert, who had only been sworn in a few days previously, declared a state of emergency under the Territory's constitution, the first time this had ever happened.

[5] As radio facilities had been significantly damaged and were inoperable, the state of emergency had to be announced by distribution of flyers around the capital, Road Town.

[6] From a relatively early stage of its development, Hurricane Irma was predicted to travel close to, or over, the British Virgin Islands.

During the last 24 hours before the storm struck its tracked moved slightly southward so that the centre of the hurricane travelled directly through the middle of the islands.

[12] The Government recommended a full evacuation of Anegada, as the highest elevation on that island is just 25 feet - lower than the predicted storm surge - and the hurricane was expected to pass directly over it.

Standard operating procedure for the British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation is to shut off power once the majority of the Territory is experiencing tropical storm force winds.

By the time the storm hit the British Virgin Islands, it had intensified to such a level as to be detected on seismometers calibrated for earthquakes.

Irma is the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in recorded history and will be the strongest system to ever make landfall in the Caribbean.

... Based on the latest forecasts, the approximate closest point of approach to Road Town from Hurricane Irma is 17 miles northeast.

His protégé, Kyron McMaster, would go on to win gold in the 400m hurdles in the 2018 Commonwealth Games the following year, and would dedicate his victory to his deceased coach.

[18] The Territory also experienced an abnormally high number of deaths in the months of September to December 2017, after the passage of the hurricane.

[21] The UK's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited Tortola on 13 September 2017 and said that he was reminded of photos of Hiroshima after it had been hit by the atom bomb.

[22] Real estate investor Joe Chapman said of the hurricane that it was, "incredibly devastating to have your properties damaged..but not only that, the country was destroyed.

On 10 September, British Prime Minister Theresa May pledged £32 million to the Caribbean region generally for a Hurricane relief fund.

Although it was only lightly damaged,[16] communications equipment was destroyed, and the runway needed to be inspected and secured before allowing flight operations.

[40] Although there were widespread reports of economic distress and redundancies in the aftermath of the hurricane,[41] no reliable statistics or projections have been published.

[42] In May 2018 the Immigration Department of the British Virgin Islands announced that the population of the Territory has dropped by approximately 11% since Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the previous year.