‘WE SHALL SURVIVE BY THE GRACE OF GOD,’ SAYS THE PRIME MINISTER OF DOMINICA, AS HURRICANE MARIA STRIKES A CARIBBEAN ALREADY RAVAGED BY IRMA. THE CATEGORY 5 STORM IS PACKING 260 KM/H WINDS.
ISLANDS TRY TO SURVIVE HURRICANE MARIA
Hurricane Maria smashed into the Caribbean island of Dominica with 260 km/h winds, causing “mind-boggling” devastation Tuesday as it plunged into a Caribbean region already ravaged by hurricane Irma.
DAMAGE IN DOMINICA
“The winds are merciless! We shall survive by the grace of God,” Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit wrote at the start of a series of harrowing posts on Facebook. “Rough! Rough! Rough!” The roof of Skerrit’s residence was shorn off and he wrote that he could hear the sound of galvanized steel roofs tearing off houses on the small island. “We do not know what is happening outside. We not dare look out. All we are hearing is the sound of galvanize flying. The sound of the fury of the wind. As we pray for its end!” Skerrit wrote. “I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane.” He was rescued on Monday evening.
AFTERMATH
Just after 1 a.m. Tuesday, initial reports trickled in through Skerrit once again — and they didn’t look good for Dominica. Police said no casualties had been reported — but noted officers had been unable to do a full assessment because of the storm. “My greatest fear for the morning,” the prime minister wrote, “is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains … Come tomorrow morning we will hit the road, as soon as the all-clear is given, in search of the injured and those trapped in the rubble.” But then, he fell silent. The island’s broadcast service was also down on 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.
ONE DEAD IN GUADELOUPE
Officials on the neighbouring 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.
WHAT’S NEXT
Next in the storm’s path was St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which was largely spared by hurricane Irma. The storm was on a track to wallop Puerto Rico on Wednesday “with a force and violence that we haven’t seen for several generations,” the governor Ricardo Rossello said. With Maria tracking northwest, hurricane warnings have been issued for the U.S., British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis and Montserrat. A tropical storm warning was in force for Martinique, Antigua and Barbuda, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Lucia and Anguilla. The storm is following a similar path to that of hurricane Irma, which ripped across the Caribbean, claiming at least 84 lives and reducing the island of Barbuda to rubble. Maria is the fourth major hurricane — defined as Category 3 or higher — to hit the region this year, making the season the worst in years.
EVACUATE OR DIE
Authorities in Puerto Rico warned that people in wooden or flimsy homes should find shelter before the storm’s expected arrival. “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.” His stark warning came as frantic preparations were made ahead of the arrival of the “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 hurricane. Maria is threatening to inflict mudslides, flash floods and life-threatening storm surges throughout the region.
‘GOD, IT’S THE ONLY THING I HAVE’
In Puerto Rico’s capital of San Juan, streets and beaches normally bustling with people were empty Tuesday afternoon, with only the occasional sound of a hammer pounding nails into plywood sheets interrupting the silence. Shelves were bare after Puerto Ricans 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 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.
CANADIAN AID SUSPENDED
With hurricane Maria bearing down on the region, the crew of HMCS St. John’s was being forced to suspend helping residents of a small Caribbean island devastated by hurricane Irma. Cmdr. Gord Noseworthy said the Halifax-based frigate HMCS St. John’s will depart South Caicos on Wednesday.