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Hurricane Maria 'leaves 15 dead in Dominica' | Hurricane Maria 'leaves 15 dead in Dominica' |
(35 minutes later) | |
At least 15 people are dead and 20 others are missing on Dominica after Hurricane Maria, the Caribbean island's prime minister has said. | At least 15 people are dead and 20 others are missing on Dominica after Hurricane Maria, the Caribbean island's prime minister has said. |
It was a miracle that the death toll was not in the hundreds, PM Roosevelt Skerrit tearfully told a local television station. | It was a miracle that the death toll was not in the hundreds, PM Roosevelt Skerrit tearfully told a local television station. |
Hurricane Maria ripped through Dominica as a category four storm late on Monday, damaging hundreds of homes. | |
The storm later devastated Puerto Rico, leaving the whole island without power. | |
Mr Skerrit said he has spent the last 24 hours surveying by air the destruction caused by the powerful storm. | |
"It has been brutal," he said on Thursday on the nearby island of Antigua. "We've never seen such destruction." | |
Homes have been flattened, schools have been destroyed, telecommunications have been cut off and the island's main hospital is still without electricity, he said. | |
The hospital's generators had to be set aside because of flooding and officials were still working to see if they could be turned on. | |
He added the island is "going to need all the help the world has to offer". | He added the island is "going to need all the help the world has to offer". |
Meanwhile, authorities in Puerto Rico are urging residents to seek higher ground ahead of flash flooding in the aftermath of Maria. | |
The island's Governor Ricardo Rossello described the hurricane as "the most devastating storm in a century" and said that Maria had hit the island's electricity grid so badly that it could take months to restore power. |