这是波多黎各近90年来遭遇的最猛烈的一次飓风。

波多黎各紧急事务管理局负责人戈麦斯说：“等我们可以出门的时候会发现，这个岛已经被摧毁”。

波多黎各各地开设的几百个避难所里收留了1万1千多人，其余的人则是待在家里，等待飓风的离去。飓风玛利亚给波多黎各部分地区带来了50厘米的降雨，狂风刮断了电线和手机信号发射塔，掀翻了房顶。

波多黎各首都圣胡安的国家气象局说，“灾难性的洪水”星期四还将继续。美国国家飓风中心预计，随着风暴的离去，水势和风力也会随之消退。

玛利亚的飓风中心星期四将扫过多米尼加共和国以北海域，星期五早上向特克斯和凯科斯群岛靠拢。最新通告说，目前的最高持续风速为每小时175公里，气象预报说，玛利亚风力还会加强。

波多黎各总督罗赛罗宣布早六点至晚六点宵禁，星期六结束，为救援人员和有关官员救灾提供方便。

Hurricane Maria dropped more heavy rain Thursday on Puerto Rico after knocking out power across the entire island, flooding many areas and killing at least one person.

The storm was the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. territory in almost 90 years.

"When we are able to go outside, we are going to find our island destroyed," said Abner Gomez, who heads Puerto Rico's emergency management agency.

More than 11,000 people took cover in the hundreds of shelters set up across Puerto Rico, while others rode out the storm in their homes. Hurricane Maria has dropped 50 centimeters of rain in some places, while its strong winds took down power lines and cell phone towers and blew off roofs.

The National Weather Service office in San Juan said "catastrophic flooding" continued Thursday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expected the water levels and high winds to subside during the day as the storm moves away.

The center of Maria will pass offshore north of the Dominican Republic Thursday and approach the Turks and Caicos Islands by early Friday. The latest advisories said the storm packed maximum sustained winds of about 175 kilometers per hour, and forecasters said Maria will strengthen some.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily until Saturday to allow rescue crews and officials to respond to the hurricane's aftermath.