Hurricane Maria pummels Puerto Rico, floods reported
Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the strongest storm to hit the US territory in nearly 90 years, downing power to most of the island, flooding some areas and ripping windows out in the capital, San Juan.
Maria, the second major hurricane to roar through the Caribbean this month, made landfall near Yabucoa, on the southwest of the island of 3.4 million people. Thousands of people were seeking safety in shelters.
Carrying winds of 220 kmph, driving high storm surges and drenching rains, Maria left up to 90% of the island without electricity, El Nuevo Dia newspaper quoted Governor Ricardo Rossello as saying.
In the southcoast city of Guayama, west of where Maria blew ashore, storm waters turned streets into fast-running rivers carrying wind-downed debris.
Maria killed at least two people in the French territory of Guadeloupe as it barrelled through the Caribbean. It devastated Dominica and caused widespread damage on St Croix of the US Virgin Islands.
Maria was expected to dump as much as 66 cm of rain on parts of Puerto Rico, the National Hurricane Centre said. Storm surges, when hurricanes push ocean water dangerously over normal levels, could be up to 2.7 metres. The heavy rainfall could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, it added.
There were hurricane warnings and watches in effect for the US and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the southeastern Bahamas and the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Puerto Plata.