Entire island of Puerto Rico without power after being pummeled by Hurricane Maria

Show Caption Hide Caption Hurricane Maria whips Puerto Rico with 145 mph winds Hurricane Maria made landfall in San Juan as a Category 4 storm.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Maria finally spun offshore and into the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday after slamming across this battered island with a multi-hour barrage that knocked out all power, toppled cellphone towers and ripped the roofs off homes and businesses.

"God is with us," Gov. Ricardo Rosselló tweeted as Maria's 150 mph winds and horizontal rain paralyzed the island and turned streets into rivers. "We are stronger than any hurricane. Together we will rise."

Rosselló, who asked President Trump for a formal disaster declaration, said the entire island was without power. More than 11,000 people sought refuge in about 500 shelters prepared by the government, Rosselló said.

The strongest hurricane to hit here in almost a century came as the U.S. territory, a decade deep in recession and struggling to pay its bills, wrestled with a massive recovery effort after Hurricane Irma. A glancing blow from that storm two weeks ago damaged buildings and knocked out power to a third of homes and businesses.

“This is going to be a disaster,” said restaurant owner Jean Robert Auguste, who rode out the storm in a San Juan hotel. “We haven’t made any money this month.”

Streets look like rivers in Puerto Rico from hurricane Hurricane Maria's strong wind and heavy rain has turned some of Puerto Rico's streets into rivers, and the reports of damage continue to grow.

Video from Maria's carnage showed roofs blown off some homes while others were smashed by fallen trees. Windows were blown out of high-rise buildings, and in some places plywood that had been nailed over windows blew away.

In Carolina, 10 miles southeast of San Juan, managers at the Courtyard Marriott Isla Verde assured guests that backup generators could provide power to the hotel for days. As the storm rolled in, lights and power were working and hot coffee was being served. But Maria didn't leave quietly, shearing off the front facade of the hotel, collapsing a wall, destroying several balconies and flooding the floors.

In Cataño, a fishing village across San Juan Bay from San Juan, Mayor Felix Delgado told local media that homes and municipal buildings were severely damaged.

"This generation is going to build the new Cataño," Delgado said. "We have to build the new Cataño after Maria."

Major damage to island infrastructure was a concern. The fragile power grid failed completely. Cellphone towers toppled in the wind, and communication was difficult if not impossible. Flooding was rampant, and rescuers were locked in place most of the day, waiting for the worst to pass.

FEMA Administrator Brock Long said his agency had 3,200 personnel "well positioned" to help after the storm.

"Our search & rescue teams are ready to support Puerto Rico & the U.S. Virgin Islands following #Maria," FEMA tweeted.

More: Florida residents with relatives in Puerto Rico pray, watch for Maria

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Maria roared onto the island nation of 3.5 million people in the town of Yabucoa as a Category 4 hurricane. The maximum sustained winds of more than 150 mph slowly eased as the storm crossed land, but still clocked 115 mph — a major, Category 3 hurricane — when its center finally reached the ocean at around 2 p.m. ET.

As Maria approached, authorities warned that people in low-lying areas needed to evacuate or they would die.

"This is going to be an extremely violent phenomenon," Rosselló warned. "We have not experienced an event of this magnitude in our modern history."

Maria is expected to remain a dangerous major hurricane through Friday, the hurricane center said. The eye of Maria was forecast to pass just north of the Dominican Republic overnight and into Thursday. The storm remains several days away from the continental U.S., and forecasters say Maria's most likely path has it turning north without making landfall in Florida or elsewhere on the East Coast.

In Florida, Satellite Beach resident Erika Rodriguez said she last spoke to her family members Tuesday evening as the storm bore down. Rodriguez, like millions of others with connections to Puerto Rico, was waiting for lines of communication to improve.

“We haven’t heard anything at all. Not a word,” said Rodriguez, who has been watching various Spanish-language news sources for information. "All we can do now is get ready, pray and wait."

The strongest storm to ever hit the island of 3.5 million people was San Felipe in 1928, with 160 winds mph. The island was spared the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Irma when it tore through the Caribbean, killing 38 there and 36 in the U.S., this month.

Puerto Rico being hit hard by new monster Hurricane. Be careful, our hearts are with you- will be there to help! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2017

Maria tore through the island of Dominica late Monday, and an adviser to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says there have been seven confirmed deaths in the Caribbean country.

“The situation is really grave,” Consul General Barbara Dailey said in New York.

Jervis reported from Puerto Rico, Bacon from McLean, Va. Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY; J.D. Gallop, FLORIDA TODAY; The Associated Press