Hurricane Irma: British sisters feared missing on Barbuda after storm devastates Caribbean island

'I just want to hug my nieces and speak to them,' says their aunt Ruth Bolton

Afiya and Asha Frank have not been in contact since Wednesday night (Facebook)

A pair of British sisters are feared missing after the category five Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean island Barbuda.

The family of 27-year-old Afiya Frank, who is more than six months pregnant, and 29-year-old Asha Frank, said they had not heard from the pair since earlier this week.

Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic Ocean storms in history, passed directly over Barbuda, razing an estimated 90 per cent of the buildings to the ground.

The women were on the island with their father Mackenzie Frank, who is from there.

​Afiya, who is working at a holiday resort on the island, is due to fly to the UK next week as the island’s hospital is not equipped for her to give birth.

The sisters' mother and aunt are waiting to hear from all three of them. Their last contact came via text message before the hurricane hit.

“The three of them were all in the house together and they had boarded up the property,” their aunt Ruth Bolton, old the Evening Standard. “Since then we have not heard anything.”

Afiya Frank is more than six months pregnant (Facebook)

She added the family was extremely concerned and the sisters’ mother was “going out of her mind” with worry.

“Afiya works the season at the Barbuda Belle resort, then was planning on coming here to have her baby and go back and work the season again next year," she said. "I doubt Barbuda Belle is even there anymore.”

Asha. who works as a local councillor, had been supporting emergency efforts on Barbuda before the family lost contact.

"I just want to hug my nieces and speak to them," Ms Bolton said.

Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the damage on the island was "unprecedented" and the majority of the nation had been left "barely habitable".

Ms Bolton said the family has experienced a similar situation during Hurricane Luis in 1995, which caused catastrophic damage in Barbuda.

She had set up a fundraising page to raise money to pay for a satellite phone so island residents can get in contact in emergencies.

More than £4,000 of the £5,000 target has been raised so far.