Hurricane Maria’s winds hit a sustained 175 mph as the the storm rolled through the northeastern Caribbean in route toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Residents of the territories have been warned to prepare for the worst.

On Tuesday, the eye of Maria was seen moving towards St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. The Category 5 storm was 30 miles southeast of the island as of 23:00 EST Tuesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. The center also says Maria is 120 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it is expected to make a direct hit Wednesday.

READ MORE: Maria makes landfall in Dominica as a 'potentially catastrophic' Category 5 hurricane

“The eye [of the storm] has rapidly intensified over the last 48 hours or so and it’s barreling toward the US Virgin Islands,” meteorologist Julie Phillips of WFLA said.

Extreme winds and rain pounded the Caribbean island of Dominica late on Monday, as Maria made landfall with 160 mph winds. The storm ripped off the roofs of houses as it pummeled the island as an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm, according to The National Hurricane Center.

The Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, described the storm’s winds as merciless, and said the roof of his house was blown off and his house was flooding in a post on Facebook. Skerrit later said he had been rescued from the situation.

Maria is the first Category 5 hurricane to hit Dominica in the island’s history, the Washington Post reported.

On Monday night, Maria quickly turned from a Category 1 storm to a Category 5, making it one of the fastest-growing storms in history, according to Mashable.

President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the Virgin Islands on Monday. This unlocked federal resources for the US territory and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security to manage all recovery efforts in the area from then on out, according to the New York Post. </s> ROSEAU, Dominica, Monday September 18, 2017 – Dominica is being pounded by Maria which has made landfall as an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane carrying maximum sustained winds near 160 miles per hour.

And what weather experts have described as a potentially catastrophic hurricane has blown the roof off the home of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit who had to be rescued as the rains flooded his home.

 Skerrit, who had earlier in the day told Dominicans to take the hurricane seriously and ensure they were as prepared as they could be, informed via Facebook of his plight.

The message about his roof being blown off and the subsequent notification that he had been rescued followed several posts in which he reported on the ferocity of the winds brought by Hurricane Maria.

In his first message about the hurricane, posted after 8 p.m., he reported that “the winds are merciless!”

He issued subsequent updates, describing what he was experiencing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami said Maria could possibly intensify tonight but some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two.

The eye of Hurricane Maria, which by 11 p.m. directly over Dominica, is moving to the west northwest at 9 miles per hour.

The NHC said that after passing Dominica, Hurricane Maria is expected to move over the northeastern Caribbean Sea tomorrow, and approach the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico tomorrow night and Wednesday. </s> Hurricane Maria made landfall near Yabucoa, Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning as a Category 4 storm. The US and British Virgin Islands were hit hard by Maria as well, with a wind gust of 106 mph reported overnight in St. Croix.

The entire territory of Puerto Rico was without power as of Wednesday afternoon. The National Hurricane Center has warned of flooding and landslides as 6-9 feet of storm surge and 20+ inches of rain are both possible.

Maria moved over Puerto Rico after making landfall over Dominica Monday night as a Category 5 storm. Maria had strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane Monday evening, becoming the fourth major hurricane of the Atlantic Basin’s 2017 season and the second Category 5 storm of the 2017 season.

Maria is now moving past Puerto Rico, moving to the north side of Hispaniola . A Hurricane Warning extends from the northern coast of the Dominican Republic to the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern Bahamas.

Maria is expected to take a turn to the north, missing Florida by the end of the week. Most models are in agreement that Maria will stay out to sea from the US Mainland and weaken through next weekend. There is still a chance however that Maria could impact the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast Coast next week. The likely impacts would be similar to those of Jose, with high seas and rough surf along the east coast.

Below is additional information from the National Hurricane Center.

…DESTRUCTIVE WINDS AND FLOODING CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF PUERTO

 RICO…

 …CENTER OF MARIA APPROACHING THE NORTHERN COAST OF PUERTO RICO… SUMMARY OF 1100 AM AST…1500 UTC…INFORMATION

 ———————————————–

 LOCATION…18.4N 66.5W

 ABOUT 15 MI…25 KM ESE OF ARECIBO PUERTO RICO

 ABOUT 25 MI…40 KM W OF SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO

 MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…140 MPH…220 KM/H

 PRESENT MOVEMENT…NW OR 305 DEGREES AT 12 MPH…19 KM/H

 MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…930 MB…27.47 INCHES WATCHES AND WARNINGS

 ——————–

 CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY: The government of France has discontinued the Tropical Storm Warning

 for St. Martin and St. Barthelemy. The government of St. Maarten has discontinued the Tropical Storm

 Warning and Hurricane Watch for St. Maarten. The government of the Netherlands has discontinued the Tropical

 Storm Warning for Saba. SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT: A Hurricane Warning is in effect for…

 * U.S. Virgin Islands

 * British Virgin Islands

 * Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques

 * Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Puerto Plata

 * Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern Bahamas A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for…

 * Dominican Republic west of Puerto Plata to the northern border of

 the Dominican Republic and Haiti

 * Dominican Republic west of Cabo Engano to Punta Palenque A Hurricane Watch is in effect for…

 * Dominican Republic from Isla Saona to Cabo Engano A Hurricane Warning means that hurricane conditions are expected

 somewhere within the warning area. Preparations to protect life and

 property should be rushed to completion. A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are

 expected somewhere within the warning area. A Hurricane Watch means that hurricane conditions are possible

 within the watch area. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before

 the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds,

 conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous. Interests elsewhere in Hispaniola and the Bahamas should monitor the

 progress of Maria. For storm information specific to your area in the United States,

 including possible inland watches and warnings, please monitor

 products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast

 office. For storm information specific to your area outside the

 United States, please monitor products issued by your national

 meteorological service. DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK

 ——————————

 At 1100 AM AST (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Maria was located

 inland over Puerto Rico near latitude 18.4 North, longitude 66.5

 West. Maria is moving toward the northwest near 12 mph (19 km/h),

 and this general motion with a gradual decrease in forward speed is

 expected through early Friday. On the forecast track, the center of

 Maria will move offshore of the northern coast of Puerto Rico during

 the next couple of hours. The center will then pass offshore of the

 northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic tonight and Thursday

 and then move near the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern

 Bahamas Thursday night and Friday. Maximum sustained winds are near 140 mph (220 km/h) with higher

 gusts. Maria is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson

 Hurricane Wind Scale. Little change in strength is forecast during

 the next 48 hours, and Maria is expected to remain a dangerous

 major hurricane through Friday. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the

 center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 150

 miles (240 km). HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND

 ———————-

 WIND: Hurricane and tropical storm conditions are occurring over

 Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Tropical storm conditions are

 expected to begin in the warning areas in the Dominican Republic

 this afternoon, with hurricane conditions starting in the hurricane

 warning area tonight. Tropical storm conditions are expected to

 begin in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas

 Thursday morning, with hurricane conditions starting Thursday

 evening. Wind speeds atop and on the windward sides of hills and mountains

 and on high-rise buildings could be much stronger than the near-

 surface winds indicated in this advisory. STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the

 tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by

 rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water is

 expected to reach the following heights above ground if the peak

 surge occurs at the time of high tide… The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to

 the north and east of the landfall location, where the surge will be

 accompanied by large and destructive waves. Surge-related flooding

 depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and

 can vary greatly over short distances. For information specific to

 your area, please see products issued by your local National Weather

 Service forecast office. A dangerous storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves

 will raise water levels by as much as 4 to 6 feet above normal tide

 levels in the hurricane warning area in the Dominican Republic, and

 1 to 3 ft elsewhere along the northern coasts of the Dominican

 Republic and Haiti. A dangerous storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves

 will raise water levels by as much as 10 to 15 feet above normal

 tide levels in the hurricane warning area near and to the north of

 the center of Maria for both the Southeastern Bahamas and the Turks

 and Caicos Islands. RAINFALL: Maria is expected to produce the following rainfall

 totals through Friday: Puerto Rico…12 to 18 inches, isolated 25 inches

 U.S. and British Virgin Islands…additional 5 to 10 inches,

 isolated 15 inches

 Northern and eastern Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos and

 southeast Bahamas…8 to 16 inches, isolated 20 inches

 Northern Haiti…2 to 4 inches Rainfall on these islands will cause life-threatening flash floods

 and mudslides TORNADOES: Several tornadoes are possible over Puerto Rico and the

 U.S. Virgin Islands today. THE EYE: Do not venture outside when the calm eye of the hurricane

 passes over, as dangerous winds will return very quickly when the

 eye moves away. SURF: Swells generated by Maria are affecting the Leeward Islands,

 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These swells will begin

 affecting the northern coast of Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos

 Islands, and the Southeastern Bahamas during the next day or two.

 These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip

 current conditions. Please consult products from your local weather

 office. </s> Overnight, Hurricane Maria thrashed the island nation of Dominica with Category 5 force winds up to 160 mph.

Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica, wrote on Facebook “Initial reports are of widespread devastation. So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace. My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.”

Maria initially weakened to a Category 4 after passing through Dominica, but according to the latest updates from the National Hurricane Center, Maria has again strengthened to a Category 5.

Maria is set to hit the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning.

Conditions could be especially devastating for Puerto Rico, which is sheltering thousands of Caribbean residents who were displaced by Hurricane Irma.

Following Maria’s landfall on Puerto Rico, Maria is expected to take a northward turn. This turn would spare Florida entirely, but would increase the danger of her affecting the Carolina coast.

Meteorologists predict that if Maria does take this sharp of a northward turn, she could interact with Hurricane Jose, which has been circling in the upper Atlantic for days as a Category 1.

This interaction between hurricanes is called the Fujiwhara effect, named after the discoverer, Sakuhei Fujiwhara.

In this case, the Fujiwhara effect could cause a large hurricane, like Hurricane Maria, to absorb a smaller hurricane, like Jose.

While this mega hurricane sounds potentially disastrous, it would actually be good news.

As the two vortices orbit around each other, Maria could end up being thrown farther into the Atlantic, back towards Africa, sparing the mainland U.S. entirely.

While this would be a welcome scenario, it’s still too early to tell where Maria might turn and if this effect could occur.

As with Irma, we’ll just have to watch and wait.

Check back with Eagle News for the latest updates. </s> (SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico) — Hurricane Maria grew into an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm Monday as it barreled toward a potentially devastating collision with islands in the eastern Caribbean, and forecasters warned it was likely to become even stronger.

The storm's eye was expected to pass near Dominica later in the day on a path that would take it near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then on toward a possible direct strike on Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

"This storm promises to be catastrophic for our island," said Ernesto Morales with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan. "All of Puerto Rico will experience hurricane force winds."

The U.S. territory imposed rationing of basic supplies including water, milk, baby formula, canned food, batteries and flashlights.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) in late afternoon. It was centered about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northeast of Martinique and 45 miles (70 kilometers) east-southeast of Dominica, and was heading west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).

The center said Maria would likely continue to gain strength for the next 24 hours or longer and could reach Category 5 status.

Hurricane warnings were posted for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat and Martinique. A tropical storm warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Lucia and Anguilla.

Forecasters said storm surge could raise water levels by 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) near the storm's center. The storm was predicted to bring 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain across the islands, with more in isolated areas.

Officials in Dominica closed schools and government offices and urged people to evacuate and seek shelters.

"We should treat the approaching hurricane very, very seriously," Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said. "This much water in Dominica is dangerous."

The small, mountainous island could be in trouble even if spared the storm's strongest winds. In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika unleashed flooding and landslides that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 370 homes.

Officials in Guadeloupe said the French island would experience extremely heavy flooding starting in the afternoon and warned that many communities could be submerged overnight.

In nearby Martinique, authorities ordered people to remain indoors and said they should be prepared for power cuts and disruption in the water supply. All schools and non-essential public services were closed.

The storm's hurricane-force winds extended out about 25 miles (35 kilometers) from the eye, and tropical storm-force winds out as far as 125 miles (205 kilometers).

The current forecast track would carry it about 22 miles (35 kilometers) south of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands late Tuesday and early Wednesday, according to territorial Gov. Kenneth Mapp.

"We are going to have a very, very long night," Mapp said as he urged people in the territory to finish any preparations.

St. Thomas and St. John are still recovering from a direct hit by Hurricane Irma, which did extensive damage and caused four deaths on the two islands.

Officials and islanders were also bracing in Puerto Rico, which did not take a direct hit from Irma but still saw blackouts across much of the territory. Nearly 70,000 people remain without power, and Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned that more widespread outages are likely with Maria.

Forecasters said the storm would dump up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of rain across Puerto Rico and whip the U.S. territory with heavy winds for 12 to 24 hours.

Officials said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was ready to bring drinking water and help restore power in Puerto Rico immediately after the storm.

Traffic was heavy Monday as people rushed to buy last-minute items. Among them was 70-year-old retiree Rafael Rivera, who clutched a small bag of dog treats for his dog and six puppies at home.

"This storm is coming with some bad intentions," he said at a San Juan store where some shoppers grumbled about empty shelves.

Rossello said Puerto Rico had prepared about 450 shelters capable of taking in up to 125,000 people in a worst-case scenario. Nearly 200 people are still in shelters due to Hurricane Irma. Classes were cancelled and government employees were to work only a half-day.

Farther north, long-lived Hurricane Jose continued to head northward well away from the U.S. East Coast but causing dangerous surf and rip currents. It was not expected to make landfall, but a tropical storm warning was in effect for coastal areas in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Tropical storm watches were posted for parts of New York's Long Island and Connecticut.

Jose was centered about 250 miles (405 kilometers) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and was moving north at 10 mph (17 kph). It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph).

Seawater washed over parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks as Jose passed, and five people were knocked off a coastal jetty in Rhode Island by high surf caused by the storm. Officials said rescuers had to fight through rough surf to load the injured onto stretchers and get them to shore. All five were hospitalized.

In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Norma's threat to Mexico's Los Cabos resort area at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula eased as forecasters said it was moving away from shore and expected to weaken.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Lee weakened into a tropical depression far out in the Atlantic and Hurricane Otis became a tropical storm far out in the Pacific. Neither threatened land. </s> Hurricane Maria thrashed parts of the Dominican Republic with heavy rain and high winds as it passed near its east and north coasts early Thursday after making a direct hit on Puerto Rico that caused severe flooding and cut power to the entire island.

Maria has killed at least 10 people as it rages through the Caribbean, the second major hurricane to do so this month, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it was headed toward the Turks and Caicos Islands later Thursday and the southeastern Bahamas, bringing dangerous storm surges and torrential rain.

It ripped roofs off almost all structures on the island country of Dominica, where seven people were confirmed dead. The toll is expected to climb when searches resume at daybreak.

Maria was ranked a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of up to 250 km/h when it hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday. It is the strongest storm to hit the U.S. territory in nearly 90 years.

It ripped apart homes, snapped power lines and turned roadways into torrents laden with debris as it cut a diagonal swath across the island.

The entire island of 3.4 million people was under a flash flood warning early on Thursday as the storm was forecast to dump 50 to 76 centimetres of rain on much of Puerto Rico through Friday, according to the NHC.

The island's governor, Ricardo Rossello, said the only fatality immediately reported was a man struck by a piece of lumber hurled by high winds.

"It's nothing short of a major disaster," Rossello said in a CNN interview, adding it may take months for the island's electricity to be completely restored.

Maria weakened as it went over land in Puerto Rico but picked up strength again early Thursday as it passed over warm Caribbean waters.

The Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h was about 110 kilometres north of Punta Cana, on the east coast of the Dominican Republic, at 5 a.m. ET, the NHC said.

Punta Cana, a popular tourist area, was hit with wind gusts of 93 km/h and Maria was forecast to bring storm surges — when hurricanes push ocean water dangerously over normal levels — of up to 1.8 metres in the Dominican Republic, it said.

Maria is expected to pick up strength as it churns toward the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas. Storm surges on those islands could be as high as 3.6 metres, the centre said.

Maria would then move north in the Atlantic Ocean over the weekend. There was no indication Thursday morning as to whether it would hit the continental United States.

It was classified a Category 5 storm when it struck Dominica on Monday night with devastating force.

Based on an aerial survey, about 95 per cent of roofs in Dominica, one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean with a population of about 73,000, were damaged or destroyed by Maria, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. It said damage to the island could be in the billions of dollars.

Passing early Wednesday just west of St. Croix, home to about 55,000 people, Maria damaged an estimated 65 per cent to 70 per cent of the island's buildings, said Holland Redfield, who served six terms in the U.S. Virgin Islands senate. </s> Hurricane Maria left a trail of destruction as it hit the Caribbean island of Dominica as a Category 5 storm and then battered Guadeloupe with powerful winds early Tuesday.

Forecasters warned that the storm could leave some parts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands uninhabitable for months.

Roosevelt Skerrit, the prime minister of Dominica, wrote on Facebook that his roof was gone, that his home was flooded and that he was "at the complete mercy of the hurricane" after Maria made landfall Monday night. A few minutes later, the politician reported that he had been rescued.

"Initial reports are of widespread devastation," Skerrit said in a later post. "So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace. So far the winds have swept away the roofs of almost every person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with. The roof to my own official residence was among the first to go and this apparently triggered an avalanche of torn-away roofs in the city and the countryside."

He warned that airports and seaports were likely to be shut for days. Around 72,000 people live on the island in the Lesser Antilles.

"My focus now is in rescuing the trapped and securing medical assistance for the injured," Skerrit added. "We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds."

NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins highlighted that Maria was one of the fastest intensifying hurricanes ever recorded. It blew up from a tropical storm into a major Category 5 hurricane in barely more than a day.

"Dominica had very little time to prepare for this monster," Karins said. "I fear what we will see during the daylight hours from Dominica and Guadeloupe. They had little time to prepare for the strongest storm of their lifetimes."

A U.S.-based spokeswoman for the Rosalie Bay Resort, which is located on the east coast of Dominica, told NBC News they had lost contact with staff late Monday. The last message from a manager arrived about 45 minutes after Maria made landfall and stated the situation was "really bad and very scary."

With Maria producing maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, hurricane warnings were in effect for Puerto Rico, its satellite islands of Culebra and Vieques, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

It weakened briefly overnight to Category 4 before regaining strength.

At 11 am ET, the eye of the hurricane was located about 115 miles west of Guadeloupe. The French overseas territory experienced sustained tropical storm force winds and around 80,000 households there were without power.

Maria was expected to pass near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday, the hurricane center said. It warned the storm could be "potentially catastrophic."

With hurricane-force winds likely to continue across both territories for as long as 24 hours, forecasters said, Maria was shaping up to be even more destructive than Hurricane Irma, which killed at least 70 people across the Caribbean and the Southeastern United States beginning in late August.

In tandem with rain as heavy as 18 inches and storm surges forecast as high as 9 feet, conditions could leave parts of the U.S. territories "uninhabitable for weeks or months," the hurricane center said. "Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Maria is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous Category 4 or 5 hurricane while it approaches the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico."

Kenneth Mapp, governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, suspended all Irma recovery efforts to shift the focus to preparing for Maria, while President Donald Trump declared states of emergency in both territories on Monday.

The Coast Guard said it was moving personnel, cutters and aircraft in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to protect them from Maria and to position them for quick search-and-rescue missions.

On Tuesday, the French government said there was no major damage in Martinique, but 50,000 households were left without power and 10,000 more have no access to water. Four people were confirmed injured.

In Guadeloupe, the French government said, reconnaissance teams will be heading out Tuesday afternoon to assess the damage.

The British government, meanwhile, advised against all travel to the British Virgin Islands, saying it was extending the deployment of more than 1,300 military personnel already in the region to help with recovery from Irma.

"Maria is developing the dreaded pinhole eye," the National Hurricane Center said Monday — a sure sign of a particularly powerful storm.

Orelon Sidney, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel, said: "It's got almost perfect conditions — low [wind] shear, warm temperatures and moisture."

Karins said it's only the second time in recorded history that two Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in a hurricane season. The last year in which two Category 5 hurricanes hit land in the Atlantic basin was 2007, when Dean and Felix killed 174 people in Mexico and Central America. They were so destructive that both of their names were retired.

It's too early to predict whether or how strongly the U.S. mainland could be affected because of shifting winds and weakening from interference as Maria passes over the string of islands, forecasters said.

But, "overall, it's going to be a very strong storm, we think, going through Saturday and Sunday," Sidney said.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló warned that Maria could bring more rain, wind and water than Irma, which killed three people there.

"Seek refuge with a family member, friend or move to a state shelter, because rescuers will not go out and risk their lives once winds reach 50 miles per hour," Rosselló said Monday.

On Tuesday, Rosselló said 500 shelters would be opened for people who can't stay with relatives or friends when the storm hits.

Authorities have also said they would shut down the airport in San Juan at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

In Condado, just east of historic old San Juan, Sonia Yanguas, 76, was appealing to the Almighty for help.

"We're praying to God that it will weaken out at sea," said Yanguas, who lives in a ninth-floor apartment by the sea. "I've already made the essential purchases, especially water. I have my equipment, I have a radio and batteries, all the things that are so important to making sure you don't end up without a way to communicate."

But she's not sticking around for Maria. She's heading inland to the city of Miramar.

"I'm going to prepare my apartment right now, and then I'm going to a hotel," Yanguas said. "I’m going with my two sons and four grandchildren."

Jay Campbell, who lives in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said residents were also getting ready for Maria — pointing out that "150 mph winds are nothing to sneeze at."

Campbell said he had stocked a supply of drinking water, food, gasoline, batteries and wet wipes, in case there is no running water after the storm passes.

Irma killed four people and left "apocalyptic" damage in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Will Tuttle, who flew down from Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, to the island of St. John to help his mother rebuild after Irma, said they were boarding everything up again in preparation for Maria.

"We covered the windows with plywood and are now putting up more plywood to reinforce them," Tuttle said. "We'll throw everything from outside into the pool — lawn chairs, chaises. It sinks. It's safe. It doesn't go anywhere."

On St. Thomas, Omari Williams said everybody was heeding the call to get out of their houses.

"People here are trying to get safe," he said. "Officials are encouraging more people to come to public shelters especially if their home is already compromised." </s> MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Maria has intensified into a dangerous Category 4 storm as it bears down on the Caribbean.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday the storm is growing in strength as it approaches land. The eye of the storm is expected to pass near the island of Dominica on Monday evening.

The center called the storm “extremely dangerous,” with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph).

At 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east-southeast of Dominica.

A Hurricane warning has been issued for Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques.

Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook </s> ROSEAU, DOMINICA—Hurricane Maria smashed into Dominica with 257 kph winds, ripping the roof off even the prime minister’s residence and causing what he called “mind-boggling” devastation Tuesday as it plunged into a Caribbean region already ravaged by Hurricane Irma. Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skeritt said on his Facebook page that “initial reports are of widespread devastation” and said he feared there would be deaths due to rain-fed landslides. He said even his own house had lost its roof, adding “I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane. House is flooding.” Seven minutes later, he reported he had been rescued.

Fierce winds and rain lashed mountainous Dominica for hours. A police official on the island, Inspector Pellam Jno Baptiste, said late Monday night that there were no immediate reports of casualties but it was too dangerous for officers to check conditions. “Where we are, we can’t move,” he said in a brief phone interview while hunkered down against the region’s second Category 5 hurricane this month. “The winds are merciless! We shall survive by the grace of God,” Skerrit wrote at the start of a series of increasingly harrowing posts on Facebook.

Putting hurricanes and climate change into the same frame In Irma’s aftermath, Black residents of St. Martin complain France is evacuating white tourists first He then wrote that he thought his home had been damaged. And three words: “Rough! Rough! Rough!” Officials in Guadeloupe said the French island near Dominica probably would experience heavy flooding and warned that many communities could be submerged. In nearby Martinique, authorities ordered people to remain indoors and said they should be prepared for power cuts and disruption in the water supply. Authorities in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which faced the possibility of a direct hit, warned that people in wooden or flimsy homes should find safe shelter before the storm’s expected arrival there on Wednesday. “You have to evacuate. Otherwise, you’re going to die,” said Hector Pesquera, the island’s public safety commissioner. “I don’t know how to make this any clearer.” Maria had maximum sustained winds of 260 kph late Monday when it slammed into Dominica.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria weakened briefly before recovering sustained winds of 260 kph strength shortly before daybreak Tuesday, with its eye located about 100 kilometres west-southwest of Guadeloupe. The storm was moving west-northwest over the Caribbean at 15 kph. Forecasters warned Maria could even intensify over the next 24 hours or longer, noting its eye had shrunk to a compact 16 kilometres across and warning: “Maria is developing the dreaded pinhole eye.” That generally means an extremely strong hurricane will get even mightier, said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami. He said it’s just like when a spinning ice skater brings in their arms and rotates faster. “You just don’t see those in weaker hurricanes,” he said. The storm’s hurricane-force winds extended out about 45 kilometres and tropical storm-force winds out as far as 205 kilometres. Hurricane warnings were posted for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat. A tropical storm warning was issued for Martinique, Antigua and Barbuda, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Lucia and Anguilla. Forecasters said storm surge could raise water levels by 1.8 to 2.7 metres near the storm’s centre. The storm was predicted to bring 25 to 38 centimetres of rain across the islands, with more in isolated areas. Close to its path is the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where territorial Gov. Kenneth Mapp said Tuesday would be “a very, very long night.”

St. Thomas and St. John are still stunned from a direct hit by hurricane Irma, which did extensive damage and caused four deaths on the two islands. Barry University said it chartered a private plane to carry students and staff from its St. Croix facility to Florida in preparation for Maria. It said 72 people connected to the Barry’s Physician Assistant Program and a few pets were on Monday’s evacuation flight. In neighbouring Puerto Rico, nearly 70,000 people were still without power following their earlier brush with Irma and nearly 200 remained in shelters as Maria approached. Gov. Ricardo Rossello said Puerto Rico had 500 shelters capable of taking in up to 133,000 people in a worst-case scenario. He also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was ready to bring drinking water and help restore power immediately after the storm, which could hit as a Category 5 hurricane. “That is catastrophic in every way,” said Roberto Garcia with the National Weather Service in San Juan. “People have to act, and they have to act now. They can no longer wait for a miracle.” To the north, hurricane Jose stirred up dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast, though forecasters said the storm was unlikely to make landfall. Big waves caused by Jose swept five people off a coastal jetty in Rhode Island and they were hospitalized after being rescued. A tropical storm warning was posted for coastal areas in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and tropical storm watches were up for parts of New York’s Long Island and Connecticut. Jose’s centre was about 590 kilometres south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, early Tuesday and moving north at 15 kph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 120 kph.
Hurricane Maria makes landfall on Dominica as a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). Maria is the second category 5 hurricane to make landfall at that intensity in the 2017 season, making this and 2007 the only seasons on record to feature this occurrence.