AKIPRESS.COM - The "potentially catastrophic" Hurricane Maria, the strongest storm on record to make landfall in Dominica, is battering the Caribbean island, and is on course to score a direct hit on the US territory of Puerto Rico -- the first in 85 years, CNN reported.

A statement from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that its record-topping winds reached 160 miles per hour when it hit the island nation. In an update the Center said that reports "indicate significant damage to structures has occurred in Dominica."

Maria, now a Category 5 storm, made landfall on Dominica late Monday, coming ashore at 9:15 p.m. ET. It was so powerful that it tore the roof off the residence of the country's leader.

"My roof is gone," Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a Facebook post. "I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane. House is flooding."

Later, he said, "I have been rescued."