Dozens of people death after Hurricane Maria leaves destruction in the Caribbean

News24xx.com -  At least 15 people have died on the Caribbean island of Dominica and many homes are destroyed after Hurricane Maria devastated the country this week, Dominica's prime minister said Thursday, September 21 2017.

In an interview, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said the death toll is likely to rise and search and rescue missions are ongoing. At least 16 others are missing in some communities.

“We have many deaths, but it is a miracle that we do not have hundreds of deaths in the country,” Skerrit told.

The storm has led to at least 26 deaths thus far, including 15 in Dominica, nine in Puerto Rico and two in Guadeloupe.

El Nueva Dia quoted the mayor of Toa Baja, a town in northern Puerto Rico, as saying eight people drowned in the storm. The mayor also said 4,000 people had been rescued in Toa Baja.

A video that posted on social media showed the massive flooding in Toa Baja on Thursday. After pummeling the Caribbean, Maria restrengthened to a major hurricane early Thursday.

As of 11 p.m. ET, Maria's maximum sustained winds had increased to 125 mph, making it a major Category 3 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm's massive eye was located about 65 miles east-southeast of Grand Turk Island in Turks and Caicos. Maria was traveling northwest at 8 mph, with Turks and Caicos in its path.

On Thursday afternoon, Turks and Caicos began experiencing tropical storm conditions as Puerto Rico continued to get hit by the storm's outer rain bands. The Dominican Republic will continue to see hurricane conditions through Thursday evening.

Maria is forecast to strengthen even more as it moves north of the Dominican Republic and passes just east of Turks and Caicos by Friday morning.

From there, Maria will likely weaken over the weekend as it moves between Bermuda and the eastern coast of the United States. The diminishing storm should move further east of the U.S. and out to sea sometime next week.

The storm's path is expected to steer clear of the U.S. mainland.