Some Caribbean residents stayed during Irma's destruction

The before-and-after images out of the small island of St. John are heartbreaking.

Once a lush and green paradise, it is now in ruins as a result of Hurricane Irma.

The storm slammed the U.S. Virgin Islands as a catastrophic Category 5.

Ashley Cates, a St. John resident said, "Everything, I mean it looks like a war zone. Everything is brown. Everything is just destroyed, debris everywhere."

Cates and her husband, Shaun, moved there to live their dream of an island life.

Cates left St. John Tuesday and Irma hit Wednesday.

She had to book a private flight to get off the island, but the hardest part was leaving her husband behind to ride out the storm alone.

"I never, ever thought for second that our family wouldn't have Shaun with us,” she said. “He's like our rock of the family."

Sean is OK and their home held up against Irma, but other islanders are homeless. Many are scavenging for basic resources like food and water. To make matters worse, there have been reports of looting.

Antonio Arena, a boat captain on St. John, also weathered Irma.

"There was a double door going outside that we had boarded up, and the 3-inch screws that we put in started ripping out and there were five of us holding a door for five hours," Arena said.

He said the destruction on the island stretches as far as the eye can see.

"It's tough to drive around and see your own community be just destroyed," Arena said.

But more than a thousand miles away, people are helping. In Charlotte, there will be a fundraiser at Queen Park Social for victims there.

Cox Media Group