Maria lashes Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Hurricane Maria thrashed parts of the Dominican Republic with heavy rain and high winds as it passed off its east coast yesterday after making a direct hit on Puerto Rico that caused severe flooding and cut power to almost all the island.
Maria has killed at least 10 people as it raged through the Caribbean region, the second major hurricane to do so this month.
It ripped roofs off almost all structures on the island country of Dominica, where seven people were confirmed dead and the number was expected to climb when searches resumed at daybreak.
Maria was ranked a Category 4 storm, near the top end of the fivestep SaffirSimpson scale, with sustained winds of up to 250kmh, when it hit Puerto Rico as the strongest storm to hit the US territory in nearly 90 years.
It tore roofs from buildings, snapped power lines and turned roadways into torrents laden with debris as it cut a diagonal swath across the island.
The entire island of 3.4 million people was under a flash flood warning as the storm was forecast to dump up to 76cm of rain on much of Puerto Rico through today, according to the US National Hurricane Centre.
The island’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, said the only fatality immediately reported was a man struck by a piece of lumber hurled by high winds.
‘‘It’s nothing short of a major disaster,’’ Rossello said in a CNN interview, adding it might take months for the island’s electricity to be completely restored. Earlier he imposed a dusktodawn curfew for the island.
Maria weakened as it went over land in Puerto Rico and picked up strength again as it passed over warm Caribbean waters.
Punta Cana, on the east coast of the Dominican Republic, was hit with wind gusts of 93kmh and Maria was forecast to bring storm surges of up to 1.83m. — Reuters