Hurricane Maria spreads 'mind-boggling' devastation as category five storm makes landfall in the Caribbean

Hurricane Maria flattened homes in Dominica
Fiona Simpson19 September 2017

Hurricane Maria barreled into the Caribbean spreading “mind-boggling” devastation to islands still recovering from the effects of Irma.

The "potentially catastrophic" storm lashed the island of Dominica late on Monday as it hurtled towards the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rica.

Hurricane Maria was upgraded on Monday evening to a category five storm on Saffir-Simpson scale as it battered the island with 160mph winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.

Prime Minister of the former British colony, Roosevelt Skerrit, said in a desperate Facebook post that the island had "so far lost all what money can buy and replace".

He added that the storm had blown the roof off his official residence and said he feared news of “serious physical injury and possible deaths” as landslides threatened catastrophe on the island.

Women in Dominica prepare for Hurricane Maria
AP

He wrote: “The roof to my own official residence was among the first to go and this apparently triggered an avalanche of torn away roofs in the city and the countryside.

“We will hit the road, as soon as the all clear is given, in search of the injured and those trapped in the rubble.

“I am honestly not preoccupied with physical damage at this time, because it is devastating...indeed, mind boggling. My focus now is in rescuing the trapped and securing medical assistance for the injured.”

Mr Skerrit added that he believed the islands ports and airports would be inoperable for several days.

People board up windows in Dominica
AFP/Getty Images

Following roughly the same path as deadly Irma, which left dozens dead earlier this month, Maria is on a track to make landfall in Puerto Rico by Wednesday, according to the agency's latest bulletins.

Millions more in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, still reeling from Irma, have another day or two to prepare for the storm, forecasters said.

Category 5 hurricane: Soldiers board a Navy landing craft during an evacuation in advance of Hurricane Maria (REUTERS)
Reuters

Briton Carolyne Coleby, who is a photographer and a sheep farmer on the Caribbean island of Montserrat described the situation as "very serious".

Speaking to the Press Association as Maria began to approach, the 52-year-old said: "It is raining and the winds are picking up - it is going to hit us from the south, which is very serious."

This graphic from the National Hurricane Center shows the location and possible track of tropical storm Maria
EPA

Montserrat escaped the clutches of Hurricane Irma relatively unscathed, but Ms Coleby said people have been told to be "much more worried this time".

"This is the most serious hurricane we have had so far, it is the third one in two weeks, but this is serious for us because of the direction it is approaching," she added.

Soldiers wait on a beach for a Navy landing craft as their unit evacuates in advance of Hurricane Maria (REUTERS)
Reuters

Ms Coleby said just 5,000 people call Montserrat home, and that she has lived on the island for more than 10 years.

"We have never experienced a hurricane season like this, it is just crazy, it is obviously climate change," she said.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against travelling to the British Virgin Islands and Montserrat.

British officials have also advised against travelling to the overseas territory of Anguilla, where a tropical storm warning is in effect.

Hurricane Maria - In pictures

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