Hurricane Maria smashed into Dominica with 26 kilometre-an-hour winds overnight, causing widespread devastation.
On the nearby island of Martinique, about 25 thousand households are without electricity and two small towns are without water.
The Category 5 storm is on a track to hit the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and forecasters warn Maria could even intensify over the next 24 hours or longer.
They say Maria is developing what they call "the dreaded pinhole eye" -- which has shrunk to a compact 16-kilometres across -- and generally means an extremely strong hurricane will get even mightier.