Hurricane Maria: Whole of Puerto Rico without power
Hurricane Maria has knocked out power across the island of Puerto Rico, home to 3.5m people, officials have said.
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The US National Hurricane Center said "catastrophic" flooding was sweeping parts of the island.
Meanwhile more pictures are emerging of widespread destruction on the small island of Dominica, hit on Monday.
Maria, currently a category three storm, is now lashing the Dominican Republic further west and heading towards the Turks and Caicos Islands.
It is the second devastating storm to hit the Caribbean this hurricane season - the first being category five Irma earlier in September.
'Our island destroyed'
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said one fatality had been reported so far on the island, a man struck by flying debris.
Abner Gómez, head of the disaster management agency, said none of the customers of Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority had any electricity.
"When we are able to go outside, we are going to find our island destroyed," Mr Gómez was quoted as saying by the El Nuevo Dia newspaper.
Those who emerged from their homes in San Juan after the storm's passing found streets strewn with debris, fallen power lines and shredded trees.
Mr Rossello has asked President Donald Trump to declare the island a disaster area after the storm unleashed heavy flooding and life-threatening winds.
The US president is yet to do so, but has made federal emergency aid available.
Governor Rossello said major damage was inevitable, although 500 shelters had been established to protect people.
Images shared on social media show roofs being stripped away as winds as strong as 140 mph (225 km/h) whipped trees and power lines in Puerto Rico's capital city, San Juan.
"God is with us; we are stronger than any hurricane," Mr Rossello said. "Together we will rise again."
Maria made landfall in Yabucoa in the east of Puerto Rico early on Wednesday as a category four storm, according to the NHC. It was the first category four hurricane to directly hit the island since 1932.