Hurricane Maria Hits Dominica Leaving 7 Dead

Hurricane Maria made her way through Dominica, an island in the Caribbean that just over 73,000 people call home, leaving total destruction in her wake.

The conditions on the island deteriorated rather quickly on Monday night as the winds picked up speed and the rain started falling at several inches per hour.

Much of the country has been completely destroyed by Maria. As of Wednesday morning, a total of seven people had been confirmed dead — and the death toll is expected to rise.

“More deaths are feared amid reports of ‘total destruction’ on the island. A 58-year-old female was reportedly recovered from flood water. An aide to the prime minister said Dominica had been devastated with much of the housing stock damaged or destroyed. Nearly all the students at the island’s Ross University school of medicine have been accounted amid plans to evacuate them over the weekend,” reported The Guardian.

Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit posted several updates about the storm, saying that his roof had blown off and that he was eventually rescued.

Aerial footage posted online shows the extent of the damage done in Dominica, which sits between Martinique (to its south) and Guadeloupe (to its north). Homes have been flattened, trees are down, and the entire island looks completely desolate. You can see that aerial footage in the video below.

Below are some photos of the destruction left behind by Maria in Dominica. Now that the storm is gone, rescue efforts have begun.

Maria has since been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph as she wreaks havoc on Puerto Rico. She is expected to move out of Puerto Rico some time this evening as she moves to the northwest with her sights set on Turks and Caicos. Currently, her projected path takes her out to sea and keeps her away from the East Coast of the United States.