BELIZE CITY, Belize (CNN) -- At least 11 people are dead after a powerful Hurricane Iris pounded Belize late Monday, officials said.

The victims were among 28 people who were on a boat at Big Creek Port, officials said. Nine are missing; eight are known to be safe.

Officials said 20 people on the boat were from Richmond, Virginia, while eight were from Belize. No identifications have yet been given on the dead, missing or survivors.

Big Creek Port is an area that has been a safe haven from hurricanes in the past, but the eye of Iris passed directly over the port. The storm left 900 people homeless, said Prime Minister Said Wilbert Musa, who was on his way to Belize's coast Tuesday morning.

Iris blew across the coast of Belize with winds of 140 mph (225 km) late Monday. It was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall, just one notch below the most severe hurricane.

The storm ripped across the country's southern coast, where a full-strength hurricane has not hit in nearly 60 years, said Stewart Krohn, news director of Belize City's Channel 5.

"We understand from reports (that) whole villages are totally knocked down of all housing structures," Krohn said. "Four coastal villages were severely damaged with loss of housing stock running as high as 80 percent."

Iris had weakened to a tropical depression Tuesday morning. At last report, the remnants of the storm were centered over the mountains of eastern Mexico, with winds of about 26 mph (42 km).