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Devastating footage shows Puerto Rico getting slammed by Hurricane Maria

The Category 4 storm is making its way across the island.

Nicole Gallucci

on September 20, 2017

Devastating footage shows Puerto Rico getting slammed by Hurricane Maria

Winds lashing the coastal city of Fajardo as Hurricane Maria approaches Puerto Rico. Credit: RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty Images

Hurricane Maria — the intense Category 4 storm that's reached peak winds of 175 miles — made landfall in Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

As the storm makes its way across the island, dramatic videos and photographs show the destruction Maria is leaving in its path.

From surge flooding to vicious waves and fierce winds, here's a look at the hurricane slamming the grounds of Puerto Rico.

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Clips shot in the costal city of Farjado, San Juan, and Guyama show buildings experiencing extreme structural damage. Doors are being ripped right off their hinges, and windows, walls, and roofs of homes, restaurants, and hotels are being stripped away by the storm's incredible power.

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As Mashable Science Editor Andrew Freedman noted:

San Juan, a city of nearly 400,000, was experiencing winds of 115 miles per hour or greater on Wednesday morning as the northern part of the storm's eyewall, where its most intense winds and some of its heaviest rains are located.

Tailing behind Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, Maria has become the third Category 4 storm to recently rock the states or a U.S. territory.

Nicole Gallucci

Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.