> From the WeatherWatch archives
Hurricane Maria’s destructive tear across the Caribbean is well underway, with the storm obliterating parts of Dominica and threatening “catastrophic” damage to Puerto Rico.
“No generation has seen a hurricane like this since San Felipe II in 1928,” Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Tuesday. “This is an unprecedented atmospheric system.”
He urged Puerto Ricans to find safe shelters immediately, as emergency workers “will not be available to help you once the winds reach 80km/h.”
“We need to keep in mind that we must also protect the lives of these first responders. It’s time to act and look for a safe place if you live in flood-prone areas or in wooden or vulnerable structures,” Rosselló said.
Maria has already has pounded Dominica with 160 mph (257 kph) winds and caused “widespread devastation,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Tuesday.
The Category 5 hurricane shredded the prime minister’s house overnight and left much of the island — population 73,000 — in ruins.
“So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace,” Skerrit posted on Facebook Tuesday. He said his greatest fear was “news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.”
A few hours earlier, the Prime Minister posted, “My roof is gone. I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane. House is flooding.”
Maria is now the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in Dominica, a former French and British colony whose economy relies heavily on tourism and agriculture.
Now, Maria is taking aim on Puerto Rico and Islands already crippled by Hurricane Irma.
Comments
Before you add a new comment, take note this story was published on 19 Sep 2017.
Latest Video
26/12/2024 8:25am
Windy Friday for NI, wet in east as storm churns offshore. High pressure approaches SI
Low pressure covered a large part of NZ on Boxing Day but high pressure is moving in from the west…
Related Articles
24/12/2024 10:03am
Santa Tracker 2024 – read the many messages sent to Santa
The WeatherWatch.co.nz live Santa Tracker has now been switched off as Santa entered NZ airspace late on Christmas Eve. Comments…
20/12/2024 4:00am
VIDEO: NZ’s weather forecast through to Boxing Day
Low pressure is looming next week for Christmas Day – but that doesn’t mean rain for all, with large dry…
10/12/2024 8:15pm
It wasn’t ash on NZ’s snow – it was Australia’s famous red desert dust
When snow on the Southern Alps turned from white to red in the summer of 2019/2020, ash from Australia’s bushfires…
Add new comment