Hurricane Maria yesterday battered the US island of Puerto Rico with 140mph winds, causing all 3.5 million homes to lose power while dumping up to 25in of rain.
The worst storm to hit the isle in 90 years then headed for the British Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas, a Commonwealth country.
Earlier yesterday it ravaged the British Virgin Islands, whose governor, Gus Jaspert, said the Queen had told him “everyone in the territory is in her thoughts and prayers”.
Maria comes barely two weeks after Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms ever, killed 84 people across the Caribbean and the US.
It has already killed a man hit by a tree on the French island of Guadeloupe where two people are missing after their boat capsized.
Maria has also devastated Dominica, killing seven, and the US Virgin Islands. Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan said yesterday:
“This has been a fortnight of just relentless catastrophe.”
About 1,300 British troops are on the UK Overseas Territories repairing the damage from Irma and preparing for Maria.
British supply ship Mounts Bay has sailed out of harm’s way but is due to move back as soon as the storm passes and will be joined at the weekend by HMS Ocean with emergency supplies.
The US National Hurricane Centre said hurricane warnings are in force on the US and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.