'If I hadn’t let go, she would still be alive': Dominica resident describes moment his wife of 52 years was swept away by Hurricane Maria

Villagers speak of thriving community spirit among Dominica’s stoic citizens as they look to rebuild their lives after the devastation of Hurricane Maria

The ruined Scott’s Head home where Lucy Thomas, 74, was killed during Hurricane Maria (Gemma Handy)

The residents of Dominica are beginning the grim task of picking up the pieces of their shattered lives after Hurricane Maria tore through the island, flattening buildings, destroying infrastructure and killing more than 20 people.

Many were still in a state of bewildered shock at the sheer savagery of the disaster – Dominica’s first category five storm in recorded history. The tiny fishing community of Scott’s Head, on the southwest coast, received its first supplies of drinking water and food four days after the storm when a private boat captained by a former villager arrived from Antigua.

Latest reports state 27 lives have been lost, with dozens more still missing. Heartbroken Ashton Thomas, 75, described the moment his wife of 52 years, Lucy, slipped from his grasp to her death as the couple tried to escape the gushing water.

“I was holding onto Lucy with one hand and the wall with the other. I managed to get her back once but she slipped away again. If I hadn’t let go, she would still be alive. I loved her so much,” he said.

“Pure fury” and “monstrous” were just some of the words used to describe Maria’s 175mph winds that struck on 18 September and brought the Caribbean country of 73,000 to its knees.

“It’s terrible, wrecked, even worse than I imagined,” Glen Hector told The Independent upon arrival in Scott's Head. Here, almost every structure has been ravaged and there is a long line of rubble where the road used to be.

“We knew the storm was coming but we did not expect that impact,” said one resident, Felixia Jervier. “We’ve lost our homes, our boats, our livelihoods. I have never experienced anything like it.”

Dominica’s lush mountainous landscape, which helped put it on the tourist map, has been its curse in the mammoth effort to deliver emergency aid to villages totally cut off due to collapsed roads and bridges.

In the absence of official medical assistance, Dr Sam Christian said he had been treating villagers for everything from fractures and cuts to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“Many people’s medication was washed away,” he said. “We really need drugs for diabetes and blood pressure – along with hope and encouragement that things will get better”.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit pledged on Tuesday that drinking water and food would be distributed to “every single house”. He told a press conference that scores of workers were poised to begin road clearance and doctors were on their way to Dominica’s main hospitals.

Up to Tuesday morning, the entire 290 square mile isle was still without electricity but power is expected to be restored to essential services by Wednesday.

“The need is huge because the entire country has been affected,” the Prime Minister, who last week broke down in tears when describing Maria’s devastation, said. “But we are working 24 hours a day to make life a little better for all of us,” he added.

It comes as US President Donald Trump deals with the devastation Hurricane Maria caused on the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The speed of the US response to the disaster has come in for criticism but Mr Trump has claimed his administration was doing a "really good job" helping Puerto Rico. Maria is the third major hurricane to hit the United States in recent weeks, following Harvey in Texas and Irma in the Caribbean and Florida.

Mr Trump has agreed to boost federal disaster aid to Puerto Rico and has promised to visit both there and the US Virgin Islands next week.

"We've gotten A-pluses on Texas and in Florida, and we will also on Puerto Rico," Mr Trump said in Washington. "The difference is this is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. It's a big ocean, it's a very big ocean. And we're doing a really good job."

Mr Trump will be looking to avoid the situation seen in Dominica, where aid cannot come soon enough for the inhabitants of the once picturesque tourist village of Soufriere, famed for its sulphur springs.

Unloading emergency supplies from a boat usually used for day trips in Antigua (Gemma Handy)

While they have access to natural spring water, helicopter supplies of food have fallen far short of the amount needed for Soufriere’s 1,400 residents.

“Everything they dropped was gone in 10 minutes,” said one man, sitting beside the smashed ruins of Wyfee’s Bar, an erstwhile popular hangout spot.

But solidarity between Caribbean islands means regional neighbours have been among the first to respond. Several boats from neighbouring nations can be seen around Dominica’s coastline.

Back in Scott’s Head and Soufriere, some villagers were already at work rebuilding damaged roofs, while others spoke of the thriving community spirit among the country’s stoic citizens.

“We’ve been battered,” said one man, “but Dominica will rise again”.