Hurricane Maria is pounding down on Puerto Rico, bringing heavy winds of 155 mph and knocking out power to “100 percent” of the island’s entire population.
ABC News reports that the Category 4 storm made landfall Wednesday afternoon, pummeling through the island and leaving more than 3.4 million residents in the dark.
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The news agency states that the Puerto Rico Office of Emergency Management Agency confirmed those without electricity are using generators.
Gov. Ricardo Rossello went on to share that the storm has caused “severe damage to infrastructure.” Rossello told local newspaper El Nuevo Dia they have not seen anything like this, revealing that windows have been shattered, rivers overflowing and trees have fallen.
Though the National Hurricane Center says the storm weakened to a Category 3 at around 2 p.m. EST, the island will still see more damage due to heavy winds.
“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” the National Hurricane Center warned of Maria, measuring 450 miles wide with hurricane-force winds extended up to 60 miles from its center.
Mayor of Catano, Felix Delgado Montalvo told ABC News there are “hundreds of people in shelters and over 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in the communities of Juana Matos, La Puntilla and Puente Blanco.” He added that most of the homes, specifically 80 percent in Juana Matos, have been flooded, are missing roofs or have collapsed walls.
Storm surge was said to hit about 6 to 9 feet in the coastal Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The last time a Category 4 storm hit the island was 1932.
Photo credit: Twitter / @thedailybeast
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