The Ministry of Public Works told Trinidad and Tobago TV station CCN TV6 that the death toll has risen above two dozen after the storm left severe flooding and triggered mudslides on Thursday.
"Erika has really, really visited us with a vengeance," Claude Weeks, assistance police superintendent, told the Associated Press during a phone interview. Because many roads and bridges are impassable, crews are trying to reach isolated communities via the ocean, he added.
Among those confirmed dead were a blind elderly man and two children in southeastern Dominica, and another man was killed in the country's capital of Roseau, the report said.
About 20 others remain missing on the tiny Lesser Antilles island that's home to about 72,000, and many homes have been destroyed in the storm, the AP also reported.
"The situation is grim. It is dangerous," Ian Pinard, Dominica's communications minister, told the AP.
About 80 percent of the island was left without electricity, and the water supply was cut off. Trees and light poles were strewn across streets, and several buildings sustained damage, including torn off scaffolding. AP also reports the main airport was closed because of flooding, with water rushing over at least one small plane.
"The capital city is a wreck. It is a sight to behold. It's a disaster," policewoman Teesha Alfred told the AP about Roseau.
© Reuters Debris covers a road after heavy rains from tropical storm Erika
On Thursday, 12.64 inches of rain fell in a 12-hour period from 2 a.m. EDT to 2 p.m. at the Canefield Airport near Roseau, Dominica, according to local storm reports.
The Associated Press reports that governments in San Juan, Puerto Rico, have ordered schools, airports and even casinos to close as they begin to prepare shelters.
Schools and government offices in St. Maarten will be closed Thursday, and officials asked casinos, restaurants and other businesses to close by midnight on Wednesday. They warned that they may temporarily suspend power and water service as the storm continues to approach.
Government offices in the U.S. Virgin Islands will be closed and all airports in the U.S. Virgin Islands will be closed until Friday, Gov. Kenneth Map told the AP.
Boats docked at Shell Beach Marina on Antigua's north coast have been removed from the water since Saturday, with people not taking chances as Erika approaches, marina employee Caroline Davy told the Associated Press.
Seaborne Airlines and LIAT, based in Puerto Rico and Antigua respectively, have canceled more than two dozen flights through Friday due to the storm. Officials in Puerto Rico said they will suspend ferry transportation between the main island and the sister islands of Culebra and Vieques on Thursday.
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