paris french island martinique escape hurricane maria largely unscathed communications blackout guadeloupe mean would several hours damage could assess senior french civil protection official say tuesday maria second major storm hit caribbean month lash guadeloupe southern shore track northwest toward virgin islands puerto rico martinique reconnaissance operations still underway already see significant damage jacques witkowski france head civil protection crisis response tell news brief paris say hurricane currently less 70 km 43.5 miles south guadeloupe right blackout zone hard communicate guadeloupe witkowski say video footage release guadeloupe prefecture show tree-bending wind whip desert streets shake lamp post storm first hit urge residents stay indoors take shelter secure room guadeloupe prefect eric maire say 400 millimeters rain forecast part island storm surge could also flood low-lying coastal areas already get early information flood flood house submerge roads maire say video record post prefecture twitter handle airport group guadeloupe pole caraibes say guadeloupe main international airport would close least 14:00 local time 1800 gmt tuesday martinique escape brunt hurricane maria guadeloupe take lash