Initial reports indicate Category 5 Hurricane Maria devastated the small Caribbean nation of Dominica on Monday night, with 160-mph winds tearing roofs off buildings and leaving “mind-boggling” damage, in the words of Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit. As the storm blew out, Skerrit took to Facebook: “So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace. My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.” Adding that his own roof was “gone” and his home was flooded, Skerrit said crews were standing by to go out to help trapped and injured residents. “We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds,” he wrote. Maria, the strongest storm on record to hit Dominica, is expected to strike Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
