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With daylight still hours away and Despite not having a clear daylight view and perspective the Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit  has announced devastation as Hurricane Maria has reached Dominica, taking over the nation with her violent winds and heavy rain. The Category 5 storm isn’t as big as Hurricane Irma, but  is just as powerful, with sustained winds over 160 mph and even higher gusts. Maria is moving west northwest at about 10 mph. She is bringing about a foot of rain to the area, with localized spots possibly seeing upwards of 18 inches.

On Monday, Dominica’s Prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit took to Facebook to update the public about what was doing on in his country, which is inhabited by over 73,000 people. His posts have started to go viral, as many cannot even imagine how terrible the weather conditions must be on the island tonight.

“The winds are merciless! We shall survive by the grace of God,” Skerrit wrote a couple of hours ago.

“We do not know what is happening outside. We not dare look out. All we are hearing is the sound of galvanize flying. The sound of the fury of the wind. As we pray for its end,” read his next update.

“Certainly no sleep for anyone in Dominica. I believe my residence may have sustained some damage,” he then wrote. An hour later, Skerrit wrote, “Rough! Rough! Rough!” A short time later, the roof of his house was blown off.

“My roof is gone. I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane. House is flooding,” he wrote. And then he wrote, “I have been rescued.”

 

PM Skerritt then finally used his facebook to give an updated as at 1am  Dominica time

 

PM Skerritt posted “Initial reports are of widespread devastation. 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.

So, far the winds have swept away the roofs of almost every person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with. The roof to my own official residence was among the first to go and this apparently triggered an avalanche of torn away roofs in the city and the countryside.

 

Dominica authorities had earlier closed schools and government offices and urged people to move from dangerous areas to shelters.

“We should treat the approaching hurricane very, very seriously,” Mr Skerrit warned as the storm approached.

“This much water in Dominica is dangerous.”

In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika unleashed flooding and landslides that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 370 homes on the small, mountainous island.