Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico: reporter lashed by savage winds during live TV broadcast

‘s outer eyewall is also set to devastate the island, as it prepares for the huge storm, just weeks after Hurricane Irma battered the Caribbean. 

A reporter for Wapa Television was caught up in the north of Puerto Rico, in Guaynabo, where the station is already struggling to broadcast, as .

In the footage, the reporter, wearing a blue mac, attempts to complete her broadcast in the dangerous conditions. 

The weather reporter is forced to hold her hood over her head to stop the wet and windy conditions from drenching her. 

Trees swaying in the windy conditions are set to face maximum winds near 165 mph (270 kph) as Maria is expected to remain forceful when it makes landfall on Puerto Rico today.

The Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello accepted that the island was going to be devastated by Hurricane Maria when he spoke on Monday. 

The Governor said that the lives of those living on the island was the most important as Puerto Rico is forecast to receive as much as 20 inches of rainfall from the storm. 

Speaking before the storm hit the island, Puerto Rico’s public safety commissioner, Hector Pesquera insisted that residents needed to evacuate. 

“You have to evacuate,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re going to die. I don’t know how to make this any clearer.”

The Prime Minister of Dominica said the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria as he was rescued from his home after the storm destroyed the roof of his house. 

The hurricane, which has so far killed eight people, battered the largest of the US Virgin Islands, St Croix. However, the island avoided the eye of the storm. 

According to the latest update from the US National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Maria’s eyewall has been recorded over the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

It is currently around 85 miles southeast of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan, according to the National Hurrican Centre (NHC).

US Virgin Islands governor Kenneth Mapp warned residents: “You lose your life the moment you start thinking about how to save a few bucks to stop something from crashing or burning or falling apart.

“The only thing that matters is the safety of your family, and your children, and yourself. The rest of the stuff, forget it.”