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.
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