‘Evacuate or die’: US Virgin Islands are lashed by 175mph Hurricane Maria as Puerto Rico declares state of emergency after Category 5 storm caused ‘mind-boggling’ devastation in Dominica

Puerto Rico’s cities were ghost towns as the country braced for Hurricane Maria’s landfall after the category five storm wreaked ‘mind-boggling’ devastation on the Dominica.
Maria hit the US Virgin Islands early Wednesday as the US National Hurricane Center warned of a ‘potentially catastrophic’ impact from a storm that has already killed at least two people in the Caribbean.
On St John Island, locals reported seeing trees swirling in the wind, with rain pouring ‘sideways’ as Maria continued on its path of destruction after battering the island of Dominica and other territories in the eastern Caribbean.
The storm barreled toward Puerto Rico on Tuesday night after wreaking widespread devastation on Dominica and leaving the small Caribbean island virtually incommunicado.
As rains began to lash Puerto Rico, Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned that Maria could hit ‘with a force and violence that we haven’t seen for several generations.’
Read more: ‘Evacuate or die’: US Virgin Islands are lashed by 175mph Hurricane Maria as Puerto Rico declares state of emergency after Category 5 storm caused ‘mind-boggling’ devastation in Dominica