'Where do I go from here?': Toronto's Caribbean community rushes aid to islands battered by Hurricane Irma

As Hurricane Irma barreled toward Florida with 200 km/h winds Saturday hundreds of volunteers from Toronto's Caribbean communities gathered aid supplies to send to a string of Caribbean nations pummeled in its path earlier this week.  

Antigua and Barbuda were battered Wednesday by the Category 5 storm — the most powerful on record ever to form in the Atlantic Ocean — and one of its namesake islands Barbuda was left in complete shambles when the hurricane's core crossed almost directly over it.  

The catastrophic blow left some dozens of people dead and thousands homeless as the fearsome storm slammed homes, schools and roads, leaving some of the world's most beautiful and exclusive tourist destinations a terrible scene of destruction. 

Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, estimates Wednesday's monster storm left about 60 per cent of the island's nearly 2,000 residents homeless and destroyed 95 per cent of its property.

Tamara Huggins, one of the city's diaspora from Antigua and Barbuda, told CBC News Saturday her family was on the once-lush Caribbean island when the historic hurricane hit. 

"People who are on the island, my family included, are just in shock," said Huggins whose grandparents and aunt and uncles houses were flattened by Irma.

"They're still processing the fact that the loss has been so tremendous."

Her family is among thousands from the small tight-knit community, she explains, who are "just trying to figure out where do I go from here and what do I do to get my life back?" 

A second Category 4 storm, Hurricane Jose, gave them little time to regroup as it threatened some of the same islands ravaged by Irma.

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Antigua and Barbuda were spared from the worst of Jose, as it skirted north of the island on Saturday and was downgraded to a tropical storm warning. 

Members from the community in Toronto met to coordinate basic day-to-day resources to rush aid to their family and friends. 

"The focus is on the most urgent and essential supplies, such as basic toiletries, women's hygiene products, clothing and shoes for adults and children," Huggins said. 

GlobalMedic, a Canadian disaster relief charity, was also preparing to send aid items to the island and others struck by the brunt of the storm — St. Maarten and St. Martin, Anguilla, St. Barts and Turks and Caicos. These include 2,500 hygiene kits and 500 emergency kits. 

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Rahoul Singh, executive director of the Toronto-based agency, says water purification units are in high demand.

"This is a lifesaver," he said. "We're going to teach mom how to use it. Mom's able to give her kids clean drinking water and those kids aren't going to get sick."

So far the Canadian government has pledged more than $150,000 towards hurricane relief.