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Prime minister posts harrowing account of hurricane on Facebook

"My roof is gone. I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane."

Keith Wagstaff

on September 19, 2017

Prime minister posts harrowing account of hurricane on Facebook

HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES Mandatory Credit: Photo by NOAA HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (9066620a) A handout photo made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows an image captured by NOAA's GOES-16 satellite of Hurricane Maria approaching the Leeward Islands, 18 September 2017. As of 11:00 am EDT, the category three storm was located about 60 miles east of Martinique and moving toward the west-northwest near 10 miles per hour. Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center say Maria, which has maximum sustained winds of near 120 miles per hour, is expected to be a 'dangerous major hurricane' as it moves through the Leeward Islands and the northeastern Caribbean Sea. Hurricane Maria approaches the Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean, --- - 18 Sep 2017 Credit: NOAA HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Hurricane Maria is slamming the small Caribbean island of Dominica, and the prime minister is experiencing it firsthand — and posting about it on Facebook.

The Category 5 storm hit the island on Monday night, when Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit posted these terrifying messages.

A little before 10 p.m. ET, things got really bad.

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Shortly after, he followed it up with this more reassuring post.

Still, the island is getting battered by 160 mph winds. It's the first time in the country's history that it has faced a Category 5 storm.

Nearly 74,000 people live in Dominica, which at one point was completely swallowed by the eye of Hurricane Maria.

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The storm is expected to affect some of the islands already hurting from Hurricane Irma, and is due to hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

Keith Wagstaff

Keith Wagstaff is an assistant editor at Mashable and a terrible Settlers of Catan player. He has written for TIME, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, NBC News, The Village Voice, VICE, GQ and New York Magazine, among many other reputable and not-so-reputable publications. After nearly a decade in New York City, he now lives in his native Los Angeles.