Hurricane Maria has been upgraded to a category five storm as it hammers the Caribbean.

It's barreling towards Dominica and is tracking towards Puerto Rico.

Dominica is home to around 74 thousand people and officials warn Hurricane Maria will be like nothing they've ever seen before.

Storm Chaser Brett Adair in Puerto Rico told CNN evacuation orders have been issued.

"There are a lot of people that are still out tonight. We're hoping that people are going to heed this evacuation, category five is an unfathomable storm."

The National Hurricane centre warns the storm's extremely dangerous, with sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour.

It's warning of large, destructive waves and flash flooding.

Much of the Caribbean is still recovering after being ravaged by Hurricane Harvey.