Maria made landfall on Dominica as a Category 5 Hurricane on September 18th with estimated winds of 160MPH. The hurricane force resulted in intense storm surges, torrential downpour, overflowing raging rivers, and extremely high winds across the island. As the hurricane passed over the center of the island, Dominica was exposed to extraordinary winds for more than three hours. This was accompanied by intense rainfall, which provoked flashfloods and landslides. Data acquired from the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) indicates the heaviest rainfall began the evening of September 18 and lasted into early morning of September 19. Total recorded rainfall for the event was 452.8 millimeters (mm) at Canefield Airport. The Copthall station, at a higher elevation in the Roseau Valley, recorded 579 mm. In addition to winds and rainfall, the coastline was pummeled by strong waves, causing major damage in the south-west. The tide gauge in Marigot, on the east coast, recorded storm surge about one meter above predicted tide levels.
Telecommunications system were severely damaged with text messaging available through Digicel and Flow; however, the communication sector was partly up and running as of 22 September 2017.
The Princess Margaret Hospital was damaged; this is the country’s main hospital with 800 beds and a trauma unit.
The impacts of Hurricane Maria were severe for both the country’s economy as well as the human development of its citizens. Basic infrastructure - including power lines, houses and public buildings such as government offices, schools and hospitals - essential to the economy and people's livelihoods has been severely damaged.
According to (EMDAT 2018) 64 persons died as a result of the storm, an additional 100 persons were injured.
65,000 people, around 80% of the population, were directly affected and more than 90% of homes were damaged or destroyed while power and water supplies were disrupted, and entire crops destroyed. Many houses lost their roofs. On impact, the economy came to a halt with the destruction of roads, bridges, and public utility systems. There was severe damage to farm housing, irrigation infrastructure, feeder roads, as well as crop and livestock production, in addition to forests reserves and coastal fishery.
The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment concluded that Hurricane Maria resulted in total damages of EC$2.51 billion (US$931 million) and losses of EC$1.03 billion (US$382 million), which amounts to 226 percent of 2016 gross domestic product (GDP). The identified recovery needs for reconstruction and resilience interventions, incorporating the principle of ‘building back better’ (BBB) where possible, amount to EC$3.69 billion (US$1.37 billion).
A total of EC$94.9 million in income and 3.1 million work days is estimated to be lost as a result of the disaster. Critical employment sectors such as agriculture and tourism will take up to 12 months to resume regular operations and therefore restoring livelihoods in these sectors will face significant time constraints. As a result, it is likely that there will be a 25 percent reduction in overall consumption, which will result in an increase in the poverty head count from 28.8 percent to 42.8 percent; while the number of indigent individuals will double from 2,253 to 4,731. Furthermore, almost 2,800 individuals considered vulnerable prior to Maria will fall below the poverty line. Approximately EC$22.11 million (US$8.19 million) is needed to finance a recovery for social protection to address these poverty impacts, including temporary scale-up of cash safety nets, expanding cash-for work, and increasing school feeding access. For increased resilience in the medium to long terms, measures to build household resilience; modernize service delivery, and ensure contingency financing for rapid scale up of the safety net system would be critical.
Source: https://goo.gl/HshNWs, https://goo.gl/hBNsAL, https://goo.gl/U69exM