The post-apocalyptic destruction on Dominica has been laid bare in an exclusive set of pictures after the island was ravaged by Hurricane Maria.
Houses have been torn to pieces, trees stripped bare and a car slammed into a road by falling debris after 160mph winds ripped through the Caribbean paradise to pieces and turned it into a nightmare.
In photographs taken on the ground, bewildered Dominicans can be seen wandering amid the wreckage of their homes. Buildings are completely destroyed, while a plume of black smoke curls into the air on the horizon.
Exclusive pictures reveal the post-apocalyptic devastation of the Caribbean island of Dominica which was torn to pieces by Hurricane Maria as it struck with 160mph winds earlier this week
Aerial surveys show that around 95 per cent of the houses on the island have been left without a roof, as corrugated iron and wood litters the streets having been blown around by the storm
The island, one of the poorest in the Caribbean, is struggling to recover from the effects of the hurricane, with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit saying they have ‘lost all that money can buy’
A set of aerial photographs further illustrates the scale of the devastation suffered by the island, which has been under total communications blackout since the storm.
The pictures show row upon row of ruined houses with debris strewn all around. Entire forests have been stripped bare by the winds, and not a dwelling appears unscathed.
Although Dominica has a population of 73,000 people, the phone lines, internet and electricity are down, meaning that almost no news or pictures have emerged from the country since Maria struck.
Dominica is known as the ‘Island of 365 rivers’ on account of its numerous bodies of water that flow down the mountainous terrain of the island.
This, however, has left the territory prone to mudslides which have contributed to the mounting death toll. At least seven people have been confirmed killed by the hurricane, and that number is expected to rise dramatically.
Hartley Henry, an adviser to the prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, said there had been a ‘tremendous loss of housing and public buildings’.
Henry said that he had spoken to Skerrit – whose residence was destroyed by the hurricane, forcing his rescue – on a satellite phone. ‘He and family are fine. Dominica is not,’ he said.
‘The main general hospital took a beating. Patient care has been compromised. Many buildings serving as shelters lost roofs, which means that a very urgent need now is tarpaulins and other roofing materials.
Aerial images show that barely an inch of the island has avoided the damage, with trees stripped bare and houses torn to pieces by the strength of the winds
Dominica is known as the Island of Rivers thanks to the tributaries which run down its slopes. However, these make the territory particularly vulnerable to landslides, which contributed to the storm damage
At least seven people have been reported killed in the storm, with that number expected to rise rapidly as government officials are able to fully explore the island
‘It’s difficult to determine the level of fatalities, but so far seven are confirmed as a direct result of the hurricane. That figure, the prime minister fears, will rise as he wades his way into the rural communities.’
A Canadian citizen stuck on the island said: ‘We have no idea what’s happening. We’ve been going to immigration. We chase every helicopter that lands!… We’ve been hiding in our house because people say at night people will try to rob houses.’
The woman added: ‘We have to loot stores for food and water… We’ve had to hide our stuff around our house. No power or water. It’s getting dangerous at this point.’
She added: ‘People walk around with machete knives, it’s crazy.’
Dominica was among the Caribbean Islands worst affected by the hurricanes, destroying the house of prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who had to be rescued.
The 44-year-old, who has led the country since 2004, said he had been at the ‘complete mercy of the hurricane’ which he described as ‘rough, rough, rough’ before making it to safety.
He later warned the island of 72,000 people has lost ‘all that money can buy’, adding on Facebook: ‘My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.’
Other pictures from Dominica show the island has been clogged with debris including branches and trees which have been stripped of their bark by the extremely strong winds
With no power on the island and emergency services over-burdened by the disaster, people fear that looters will soon try to take advantage of the situation by raiding houses at night
After devastating Dominica, Hurricane Maria moved on to Puerto Rico where it completely destroyed the country’s power grid, leaving 3.3million people without electricity
Virtually no structure on Dominica escaped the storm’s wrath, hampering repair efforts. This gas station has been left as little more than a ruin by the force of the hurricane
Photos from elsewhere on the island show gas stations have been destroyed, hampering repair efforts as machines that could have helped lie idle or damaged.
Elsewhere the streets are littered with branches torn from trees that have been stripped of their bark by the sheer force of the storm.
Trees lie scattered around having been torn out of the ground, mirroring the power lines that have been toppled into the streets, cutting electricity from thousands of homes.
On the nearby island of Puerto Rico, Maria left the entire island without power, as officials warned that it could be out for months while they try to repair the damage.
The true extent of the devastation is still not known as the government has not been able to conduct a fly-over of the island to assess the scale of the damage.
While Maria had dropped to a Category 2 storm after becoming the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in 100 years, it strengthened to a Category 3 on Wednesday as it neared the Dominican Republic.
Maria was expected to pick up strength as it churns toward the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas later on Thursday. Storm surges on the islands could be as high as 12 feet
Maria would then move north in the Atlantic Ocean over the weekend and there was no indication as to whether it would hit the continental United States.