Puerto Rico’s office of emergency management confirmed that 100 percent of the U. S. territory has lost power, noting that anyone with electricity was using a generator.
And we begin with the first picturing coming in from Puerto Rico, after taking a direct hit. As you heard, one official saying, the island is destroyed. MARIA is the first category 4 to hit there in nearly a century. 1 150-mile-an-hour winds ripping buildings apart, knocking out power everywhere. All of the electricity is out tonight. People ordered to stay inside until at least tomorrow amid feerms of more massive flooding to come. And the satellite image tonight showing MARIA’s massive size dwarfing the island. No part of it was spared. ABC’s Victor Oquendo leading us off from San Juan tonight. Reporter: Tonight, MARIA’s direct hit, devastating Puerto Rico. The first category 4 storm to strike Puerto Rico in 85 years, slamming ashore around sunrise. We are back here on the northern side of San Juan here. I can only imagine what went down when this thing made landfall on the southeast corner of this island. The eye getting closer and closer to us. The eye wall scraping the northern beaches there. Reporter: Roofs peeled from buildings. Debris flying. Structures collapsing. Up to 30 inches of rain in some areas, engulfing whole neighbors. Michelle torres using everything she can to keep the water out. The wind howled and screeched. The doors rattled. Reporter: We are outside of San Juan, it was hit very hard a lot of destruction to homes, downed trees and power lines, as well. And now, they’re dealing with this. Flooding in every direction. The emergency management director saying the entire island is destroyed. Many of these homes not built to withstand any hurricane, let alone a category 4. Wind damage, is that what happened here? Wind damage. Reporter: Hospitals damaged, running on generator power. We’re standing on one of the busiest thorough fairs in all of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Not a single car in sight. We’re the only ones out here. Emergency management now confirms, 100% of Puerto Rico now without power. Everywhere you look, downed power lines like these, which stretch right across the expressway. 12,000 people heeding the call to get to shelters, including our hotel’s ballroom. Evacuees moved off this arena floor, due to safety concerns. The howling wind piercing the darkness.??? terrified residents singing about strength during trying times to ease the fear. ??? David, you can see the damage right here behind me. This is what so many streets across San Juan look like tonight. Officials saying many areas will be Indiana habitable for weeks, maybe even months. They’re urging people to shelter in place. They’ve issued a curfew and the governor now saying he is launching search and rescue teams. David? Victor, thank you. Let’s get right to senior meteorologist rob Marciano live
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