This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-landfall-dominica-caribbean-category-five-storm-live
The article has changed 34 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Maria: new category five storm makes landfall in Dominica – live | Hurricane Maria: new category five storm makes landfall in Dominica – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 2.57am BST | |
| 02:57 | |
| Jackson says disaster plans are also being put into place for St Kitts and Nevis “as a precaution”. | |
| 2.56am BST | |
| 02:56 | |
| Ronald Jackson, director of the Caribbean disaster and emergency management agency, says: | |
| CARICOM [Caribbean Community] Disaster Relief United being readied for deployment to Dominica at earliest opportunity. | |
| Rapid needs and damage assessment teams [are] being readied for deployment to Dominica | |
| I fear this is going to be a long September. One to be remembered. | |
| Updated | |
| at 2.56am BST | |
| 2.47am BST | |
| 02:47 | |
| In Guadeloupe – which could be the next island to feel Maria’s full force – winds have already picked up speed and the rains are intensifying: | |
| #Maria #Guadeloupe La végétation soumise à rude épreuve ! pic.twitter.com/5rYBkbqvrR | |
| 2.42am BST | |
| 02:42 | |
| As Maria approached, Agence France-Presse reported on the islanders making preparations for the catastrophic storm: | |
| Residents flocked to supermarkets to stock up on essentials as island officials warned people living in low-lying areas or along rivers to move to high ground. | |
| “Just ready to ride out storm at best. With a little prayer on the side,” said school teacher Leandra Lander. | |
| Lander collected water, charged her electronic devices and ensured her important documents were safe. “My work place is secured and so is my home,” she said. | |
| The island’s airport and ports have been closed, and the local water company shut down its systems to protect its intake valves from debris churned up by the storm. | |
| The government opened all the island’s shelters. | |
| Dominican prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit warned residents to be especially cautious. | |
| “Let us take it seriously and use the time that we have to prepare ourselves adequately,” he told a news conference. | |
| Many islanders still remember the massive destruction and death caused by David, another category five hurricane that struck in 1979. | |
| Business owners could be seen boarding up their properties earlier in the day, as they prepared to ride out this storm. | |
| 2.39am BST | |
| 02:39 | |
| The Trinidad and Tobago weather centre, citing local radio, says the roofs of many buildings “have already been torn off and severe damage has occurred” across Dominica. | |
| 2.35am BST | |
| 02:35 | |
| The tiny outline overlapped by the eye of Hurricane Maria is Dominica – it has now been swallowed up by the storm’s eyewall, with winds of 160mph (260kph) as it lashes the island. | |
| Eyewall of #Maria engulfing most of #Dominica, including #Roseau. pic.twitter.com/aAcGnQTYo4 | |
| 2.32am BST | |
| 02:32 | |
| Dominica’s prime minister now says he has been rescued – from his roofless home: | |
| 2.30am BST | |
| 02:30 | |
| Roosevelt Skerrit, the prime minister of Dominica, has posted on his official Facebook page that his “roof is gone” and he is “at the complete mercy of the hurricane”: | |
| 2.25am BST | 2.25am BST |
| 02:25 | 02:25 |
| Around 70,000 people live in Dominica, the first island struck by Hurricane Maria. | Around 70,000 people live in Dominica, the first island struck by Hurricane Maria. |
| Chamberlain Emanuel, head of the environment commission at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, warned before landfall: | Chamberlain Emanuel, head of the environment commission at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, warned before landfall: |
| It’s really a desperate situation. | It’s really a desperate situation. |
| We’re trying to be resilient but the vulnerability is just too high. | We’re trying to be resilient but the vulnerability is just too high. |
| 2.22am BST | 2.22am BST |
| 02:22 | 02:22 |
| The US National Hurricane Center forecast predicts that Maria will head west-north-west from Dominica, with islands in its path – Guadeloupe, Montserrat and St Kitts & Nevis most immediately – bracing for winds of up to 160mph (260kph): | The US National Hurricane Center forecast predicts that Maria will head west-north-west from Dominica, with islands in its path – Guadeloupe, Montserrat and St Kitts & Nevis most immediately – bracing for winds of up to 160mph (260kph): |
| On the forecast track, the core of Maria will move near Dominica and the adjacent Leeward Islands during the next few hours [Tuesday evening], over the extreme northeastern Caribbean Sea the remainder of tonight and Tuesday, and approach Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Tuesday night and Wednesday. | On the forecast track, the core of Maria will move near Dominica and the adjacent Leeward Islands during the next few hours [Tuesday evening], over the extreme northeastern Caribbean Sea the remainder of tonight and Tuesday, and approach Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Tuesday night and Wednesday. |
| 2.16am BST | 2.16am BST |
| 02:16 | 02:16 |
| Even before Hurricane Maria arrived in full force on Dominica – at around 9pm Monday local time (01.00 Tuesday GMT) – tropical storm-force winds were felling trees and damaging buildings across the island: | Even before Hurricane Maria arrived in full force on Dominica – at around 9pm Monday local time (01.00 Tuesday GMT) – tropical storm-force winds were felling trees and damaging buildings across the island: |
| #Dominica earlier today before hurricane-force winds reached them pic.twitter.com/uqMQc4EULm | #Dominica earlier today before hurricane-force winds reached them pic.twitter.com/uqMQc4EULm |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.17am BST | at 2.17am BST |
| 2.11am BST | 2.11am BST |
| 02:11 | 02:11 |
| The following islands – some of them still in the early stages of recovery from Hurricane Irma – are currently on hurricane warnings: | The following islands – some of them still in the early stages of recovery from Hurricane Irma – are currently on hurricane warnings: |
| Dominica | Dominica |
| Guadeloupe | Guadeloupe |
| Montserrat | Montserrat |
| St Kitts and Nevis | St Kitts and Nevis |
| US Virgin Islands | US Virgin Islands |
| British Virgin Islands | British Virgin Islands |
| Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vieques | Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vieques |
| 2.07am BST | 2.07am BST |
| 02:07 | 02:07 |
| The latest update from the US National Hurricane Center warned that Maria has become a “potentially catastrophic category five hurricane … The eye and intense inner core is nearing Dominica”. | The latest update from the US National Hurricane Center warned that Maria has become a “potentially catastrophic category five hurricane … The eye and intense inner core is nearing Dominica”. |
| The eyewall has now barrelled into Dominica’s eastern coast, crossing towards the island’s capital, Roseau, on the south-west side. | The eyewall has now barrelled into Dominica’s eastern coast, crossing towards the island’s capital, Roseau, on the south-west side. |
| 2.02am BST | 2.02am BST |
| 02:02 | 02:02 |
| Hurricane Maria makes landfall | Hurricane Maria makes landfall |
| Claire Phipps | Claire Phipps |
| Hurricane Maria – which over the course of barely 50 hours has intensified from a tropical storm to a category five hurricane – has hit Dominica, in the eastern Caribbean. | Hurricane Maria – which over the course of barely 50 hours has intensified from a tropical storm to a category five hurricane – has hit Dominica, in the eastern Caribbean. |
| The island was spared the wrath of Hurricane Irma, but now faces devastation as it is raked by winds of 160mph (260kph). | The island was spared the wrath of Hurricane Irma, but now faces devastation as it is raked by winds of 160mph (260kph). |
| Maria is expected to cross Dominica and adjacent islands over the next few hours, before heading towards Puerto Rico and the British and US Virgin Islands. | Maria is expected to cross Dominica and adjacent islands over the next few hours, before heading towards Puerto Rico and the British and US Virgin Islands. |
| 830pm: #Radar update as #Maria landfalls in #Dominca. Eyewall consolidated possibly by temporary land conv. Distinct jog WNW last hr or so. pic.twitter.com/codbgs7VQi | 830pm: #Radar update as #Maria landfalls in #Dominca. Eyewall consolidated possibly by temporary land conv. Distinct jog WNW last hr or so. pic.twitter.com/codbgs7VQi |