The Island of Dominica Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, escaped death early on Tuesday after hurricane Maria made a landfall in the Caribbean with sustained winds of 260km/h (160mph).
The hurricane, which flooded the house of the PM, also blew off the roof of his house.
Skerrit posted on Facebook that his roof had been torn off and that he was “at the complete mercy of the hurricane”, later adding that he had been rescued.
Hurricane Maria, strengthened to a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 storm, forced the closure of Dominica’s airport and ports.
Maria is moving roughly along the same track as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region this month.
The nearby Island of Martinique has declared a maximum-level alert while another French Island, Guadeloupe, ordered evacuations.
The US territory expects Maria to make landfall as a Category 3 on Tuesday.
It escaped the worst of Irma and has been an important hub for getting relief to Islands more badly affected.
Governor Ricardo Rossello urged islanders to seek refuge.
US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands suffered severe damage from Irma and President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the US territories on Monday.
Warnings are also in effect for St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat and St Lucia while hurricane watches are in place for St Martin, Saba, St Eustatius and Anguilla.
. BBC.
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