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Latin America & Caribbean

Hurricane Maria 'leaves 15 dead in Dominica'

21 September 2017
From the section Latin America & Caribbean

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Image copyright AFP Image caption "It has been brutal," Mr Skerrit says of
the destruction in Dominica

At least 15 people are dead and 20 others are missing on Dominica after
Hurricane Maria, the Caribbean island's prime minister has said.

It was a miracle that the death toll was not in the hundreds, PM Roosevelt
Skerrit tearfully told a local television station.

Hurricane Maria ripped through Dominica as a category four storm late on

Monday, damaging hundreds of homes.

The storm later devastated Puerto Rico, leaving the whole island without
power.

Mr Skerrit said he has spent the last 24 hours surveying by air the destruction
caused by the powerful storm.

"It has been brutal," he said on Thursday on the nearby island of Antigua.
"We've never seen such destruction."
Homes have been flattened, schools have been destroyed,
telecommunications have been cut off and the island's main hospital is still
without electricity, he said.

The hospital's generators had to be set aside because of flooding and officials
were still working to see if they could be turned on.

In pictures: Maria aftermath on Puerto Rico

Hurricane Maria: What to do before, during and after

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionAerial footage from Dominica

He added the island is "going to need all the help the world has to offer".

Meanwhile, authorities in Puerto Rico are urging residents to seek higher

ground ahead of flash flooding - with up to 30 inches (76cm) more rain
predicted by Saturday - in the aftermath of Maria.

The island's Governor Ricardo Rossello described the hurricane as "the most
devastating storm in a century" and said that Maria had hit the island's
electricity grid so badly that it could take months to restore power.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Hurricane Maria damaged buildings in

Puerto Rico and left streets covered in debris
 Images shared on social media show roofs being stripped away as winds as
strong as 140 mph (225 km/h) whipped trees and power lines in Puerto Rico's
capital city, San Juan.

Maria, now a category three storm, is moving off the northern coast of the
Dominican Republic and heading towards the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The storm has claimed at least 17 lives so far across the Caribbean, with
many others missing, officials say. Two people were killed in the French
territory of Guadeloupe.

US President Donald Trump said the storm had "totally obliterated" the US
territory, and pledged to visit Puerto Rico.

He has yet to declare the island a disaster area but has made federal
emergency aid available.

It is the second devastating storm to hit the Caribbean this hurricane season -
the first being category five Irma earlier in September.

Irma was one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, killing at least
84 people in the Caribbean and US.

The hurricane followed Harvey, which killed more than 80 people after it
barrelled through Texas last month.

Related Topics

Dominica

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