Hurricane Maria batters Dominica.

Dominica has suffered widespread damage from Hurricane Maria, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says, as the storm hammers neighbouring Guadeloupe.

The hurricane suddenly strengthened to a "potentially catastrophic" category five storm, before making landfall on the Caribbean island.

Hurricane Maria is moving roughly along the same track as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region earlier this month.Fierce winds and rain lashed mountainous Dominica for hours.

Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skeritt said on his Facebook page while the Category 5 storm was raging over his island nation that he would venture out to see the damage and secure needed help once the all-clear is given. He said his "greatest fear" was that island residents would awake to word of "serious physical injury and possible deaths."

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