Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico on Wednesday as officials warned it would decimate the power company’s crumbling infrastructure and force the government to rebuild dozens of communities.
Maria made landfall early Wednesday in the southeast coastal town of Yabucoa as a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph (250 kph) winds, and it was expected to punish the island with life-threatening winds for 12 to 24 hours, forecasters said.
The first footage of Maria’s devastation was fimled on the Caribbean island of Dominica, 17 hours after communication was wiped out. Six deaths were reported on the island.
The grainy film, taken from the air, shows scores of damaged houses over the town of Portsmouth on the mountainous island, surrounded by scraps of debris.
It was captured by a CBC cameraman on a military aid flight over the stricken country in a first attempt at a massive aid operation.
Due to the widespread chaos, the aeroplane found nowhere to land and was forced to return to its base in Barbados.
Devastation: The first footage of the devastation wreaked on the Caribbean island of Dominica by Hurricane Maria has emerged after 17 hours of communication wipeout
Wipe out: The grainy film, taken from the air, shows scores of damaged houses over the town of Portsmouth on the mountainous island, surrounded by scraps of debris
Destruction: It was captured by a CBC cameraman on a military aid flight over the stricken country in a first attempt at a massive aid operation
Gone: The latest information coming out of Dominica – which was gained from amateur radio operators, as all electricity, internet coverage and phone signal has collapsed – suggests that every building on the island has been damaged.
‘This is going to be an extremely violent phenomenon,’ Puerto Rico Gov Ricardo Rossello said of the storm. ‘We have not experienced an event of this magnitude in our modern history.’
Zinc roofs were already flying and windows were breaking as the storm approached Puerto Rico before dawn, with nearly 900,000 people without power and one tree falling on an ambulance.
Those who sought shelter at a coliseum in San Juan were moved to the building’s second and third floors, reported radio station WKAQ 580 AM.
The storm was moving across Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning at 10 mph (17 kph), with a gust of 113 mph (182 kph) reported in the capital of San Juan, according to the USNational Hurricane Center in Miami.
The latest information coming out of Dominica – which was gained from amateur radio operators, as all electricity, internet coverage and phone signal has collapsed – suggests that 100 per cent of buildings have been damaged, with 20 per cent totally destroyed, 70 per cent badly damaged and 10 per cent relatively lightly affected.
Coulibistrie, a village in a valley on the Island’s west coast, is now submerged by water, and Good Hope, a village on the east side of the island, has been destroyed by landslides, radio operators have reported.
There are fears that hundreds may have died on the island, where the hospital was demolished by 160-200mph winds last night.
Destruction: A source involved in the aid operation from Barbados told MailOnline that six deaths have been confirmed on Dominica so far and the two worst affected areas are understood to be Marigot – a village near the island’s main airport – and the capital, Roseau.
The capital, Rouseau, which has a population of 16,500, has also been hit hard by the winds. The residence of the Prime Minister, which was destroyed in the early stages of the storm, is located on the northern outskirts of the capital, where the hospital has been torn apart, depriving locals of medical assistance.
Portsmouth, Dominica’s second-largest town, which has a population of almost 3,000 people, is understood to have sustained serious damage. There are no cars on the roads, which have been rendered impassable by debris, and locals are relying on bicycles to seek help.
The capital, Rouseau, which has a population of 16,500, has also been hit hard by the winds. The residence of the Prime Minister, which was destroyed in the early stages of the storm, is located on the northern outskirts of the capital, where the hospital has been torn apart, depriving locals of medical assistance.
Kat Fin, a Dominican currently in the United States, tweeted: ‘Our house withstood every hurricane since 1976 no problem. Hurricane Maria took it down.
‘Trees were driven into walls like battering rams, leaving gaping holes,’ she added.
‘The roof was being pounded by flying boulders and the rain was gushing through hurricane louvres. The wind raging though the house had twisted furniture flying.’
A source involved in the aid operation from Barbados told MailOnline that six deaths have been confirmed on Dominica so far and the two worst affected areas are understood to be Marigot – a village near the island’s main airport – and the capital, Roseau.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Committee (CODEMA) said that the first aid helicopter landed in Dominica on Tuesday afternoon, after an unsuccessful attempt earlier in the day.
Streets were nearly empty after Puerto Rico, Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned that Maria could hit ‘with a force and violence that we haven’t seen for several generations’
Public safety commissioner Hector Pesquera told Puerto Ricans: ‘You have to evacuate. Otherwise, you’re going to die’
Empty shelves are shown at a Wal Mart as people prepare for a direct hit from Hurricane Maria in San Juan
Hurricane Maria is set to lash Puerto Rico Wednesday after wreaking havoc on the Dominica Tuesday morning
A motorist drives on the flooded waterfront in Fort-de-France, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, after it was hit by Hurricane Maria on Tuesday
Dark storm clouds form as Hurricane Maria approaches the island in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. The hurricane is currently hitting the Virgin Islands
President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday evening calling the Category 5 hurricane a ‘monster’
It delivered essential communications equipment to the island, which has had no contact with the outside world since the hurricane due to service providers sustaining storm damage.
The helicopter also took Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who lost his own house in the hurricane, on an aerial tour of the devastated island.
CODEMA also announced that a coastguard vessel was due to sail from Barbados on Tuesday night to drop a search and rescue team, including fire officers, assessment teams and aid supplies.
As rains began to lash Puerto Rico, Gov Ricardo Rossello warned that Maria could hit ‘with a force and violence that we haven’t seen for several generations.’
‘We’re going to lose a lot of infrastructure in Puerto Rico,’ Rossello said, adding that a likely island wide power outage and communication blackout could last for days. ‘We’re going to have to rebuild.’
As Maria approached, US President Donald Trump offered his support via Twitter: ‘Puerto Rico being hit hard by new monster Hurricane. Be careful, our hearts are with you- will be there to help!’
Authorities warned that people in wooden or flimsy homes should find safe shelter before the storm’s expected arrival Wednesday.
The country is still reeling with more than 45,000 homes and businesses are without power because of Hurricane Irma which hit last week, according to CNN.
‘You have to evacuate. Otherwise, you’re going to die,’ said Hector Pesquera, the island’s public safety commissioner. ‘I don’t know how to make this any clearer.’
St. Croix was largely spared the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Irma on the chain’s St. Thomas and St. John islands just two weeks ago Maria’s center was expected to pass several miles south of St. Croix
Earlier Tuesday, a road was flooded in the French Caribbean island of Martinique after it was hit by Hurricane Maria
Parking lots were empty on Tuesday evening before Hurricane Maria was expected to hit on Wednesday. . Maria is headed towards the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico after battering the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica
Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit warned those in Maria’s path and said the winds were ‘merciless’. In the hours before the storm, cities such as San Juan were nearly empty
US Navy vessels traveled around Hurricane Maria before returning to assist the US Virgin Islands who have been hit with the Catergory 5 storm
Maria’s center was passed south of St. Croix late Tuesday on its way to Puerto Rico. U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp asked that people remain alert.
St. Croix was largely spared the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Irma on the chain’s St. Thomas and St. John islands just two weeks ago. But this time, the island would experience five hours of hurricane force winds starting about 11 p.m. EST, Mapp said.
‘For folks in their homes, I really recommend that you not be in any kind of sleepwear,’ he said during a brief press conference late Tuesday. ‘Make sure you have your shoes on. Make sure you have a jacket around. Something for your head in case your roof should breach. … I don’t really recommend you be sleeping from 11 o’clock to 4am. … Be aware of what’s going on around you.’
The warning came after Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit sent out a series of dramatic posts on his Facebook page as the storm blew over that tiny country late Monday – but then stopped suddenly as phone and internet connections with the country were cut.
‘The winds are merciless! We shall survive by the grace of God,’ Skerrit wrote before communications went down.
A few minutes later, he messaged he could hear the sound of galvanized steel roofing tearing off houses on the small rugged island. He said that even his own roof had blown away.
In the last message before falling silent, he appealed for international aid: ‘We will need help, my friends, we will need help of all kinds.’
The storm knocked out communications for the entire country, leaving anyone outside Dominica struggling to determine the extent of damage, though it was clearly widespread. ‘The situation is really grave,’ Consul General Barbara Dailey said in a telephone interview from New York.
The Virgin Islands are currently being hit by Hurricane Maria as of early Wednesday morning
A picture shows rocks swept by strong waves onto a road in Le Carbet, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, on Tuesday
A woman and a child rested on cots while waiting at Humacao Arena refugee center for the imminent impact of Maria
People in Puerto Rico (capital building, pictured) hunkered down, bracing for Hurricane Maria after it appeared to kill most of Dominica’s internet service by midday
People walk along the nearly deserted streets of Old San Juan as residents prepare for the category five hurricane
Hurricane center forecasters said it ‘now appears likely’ that Maria will still be at Category 5 when it hits Puerto Rico Wednesday
She said she lost contact with the island about 4 a.m. At that point, officials had learned that 70 percent of homes had lost their roofs, including her own.
‘I lost everything,’ she said, adding there had been no word on casualties. ‘As a Category 5 it would be naive not to expect any (injuries) but I don’t know how many,’ she said.
The island’s broadcast service was also down Tuesday and Akamai Technologies, a company that tracks the status of the internet around the world, said most of Dominica’s internet service appeared to have been lost by midday.
The Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica reported a widespread loss of communication on the island, and relatives of students posted messages on its Facebook page saying they had been unable to talk to their loved ones since late Monday evening as the storm approached.
Dominica is particularly vulnerable to flooding because of its steep mountains, cut through with rivers that rage even after a heavy rain.
It was still recovering from Tropical Storm Erika, which killed 30 people and destroyed more than 370 homes in August 2015.
Officials on the neighboring French island of Guadeloupe reported at least one death: a person hit by a falling tree. They said two other people were reported missing after their boat sank off La Desirade island, just east of Guadeloupe.
About 40 percent of the island – 80,000 homes – were without power and flooding was reported in several communities.
In the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan, normally crowded streets and beaches were empty by Tuesday afternoon as families heading to safe shelter packed up their cars and pets or secured windows and doors around their home to prepare for severe winds expected to lash the island for 12 to 24 hours.
More than 4,400 people were in shelters by late Tuesday, along with 105 pets, Rossello said.
Residents in San Juan stocked up on fuel as they prepare for a direct hit from Hurricane Maria. Maria could be the ‘most catastrophic hurricane to hit’ the U.S. territory in a century
A group of evacuees take part in a prayer circle at a makeshift shelter at the Juan Ponce de Leon Elementary School
‘We’re definitely afraid,’ said Erica Huber, a 33-year-old teacher from Venice, Florida, who moved to Puerto Rico a month ago with her 12-year-old daughter.
‘I’m more worried about the aftermath: Is there going to be enough food and water?’ she said.
In shops across the island, shelves were bare after people filled shopping carts with the limited amount of water, batteries, baby formula, milk and other items they could find.
Iris Tosado, a 64-year-old widowed housewife, scanned the nearly empty shelves before heading back home. She and her disabled son planned to spend the storm with relatives because their home is made of wood, and she prayed that it would not be destroyed.
‘God, it’s the only thing I have,” she said. ‘This is not looking good.’
Maria ties for the eighth strongest storm in Atlantic history, when measured by wind speed. This year’s Irma, which had 185 mph winds, ranks second.
Hurricane center forecasters predicted it was ‘likely’ that Maria will still be at Category 5 intensity when it moves over the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday night and Puerto Rico on Wednesday, bringing with it ‘life-threatening’ flooding from rain and storm surge.
Forecasters said the storm surge could raise water levels by 6 to 9 feet near the storm’s center. The storm was predicted to bring 10 to 15 inches of rain across the islands, with more in isolated areas.
To the north, Hurricane Jose stirred up dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast, though forecasters said the storm was unlikely to make landfall. Big waves caused by Jose swept five people off a coastal jetty in Rhode Island and they were hospitalized after being rescued.
A tropical storm warning was posted for coastal areas in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and tropical storm watches were up for parts of New York’s Long Island and Connecticut.