Evacuate now
Some 70,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes after a rain-swollen dam in Puerto Rico failed in the latest disaster caused by Hurricane Maria, which was on Saturday expected to head into open waters.
With the storm death toll standing at 33 across the Caribbean, Puerto Rico's National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for people living along the Guajataca River in the northwest of the island, saying an earthen dam there was in danger of collapsing.
"All Areas surrounding the Guajataca River should evacuate NOW. Their lives are in DANGER!," the NWS tweeted on Friday, saying flooding had already begun downstream.
Governor Ricardo Rossello also issued an order for 70,000 people living in the area to flee.
Puerto Rico was already battling dangerous floods after Hurricane Maria hit early Wednesday, devastating the Caribbean island.
Rossello has called Maria the most devastating storm in a century after it destroyed the US territory's electricity and telecommunications infrastructure.
So far, a preliminary assessment said 13 people had died as a result of the storm, he told CNN.
So far, at least 33 people have been confirmed dead as a result of Hurricane Maria, including 15 in Dominica, three in Haiti and two in Guadeloupe.
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