Hurricane season is still hitting hard on the Caribbean, as Maria, a second powerful storm is bearing down on a string of already battered Caribbean islands. Puerto Rico declared a state of emergency, conditions are set to deteriorate rapidly.
On Monday afternoon, Maria was hurling winds of 125 mph as it closed in on the Caribbean and took aim at Puerto Rico. That’s nearly twice the hurricane’s strength from just 24 hours earlier, and Maria is expected to keep growing before slamming into the Leeward Islands this evening.
The National Hurricane Center stated that: “Maria is likely to affect Puerto Rico as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, and a hurricane watch is in effect for that island.”
The storm will cut across the islands of Dominica, Martinique, French Guadeloupe and St. Lucia, where hurricane warnings are in effect. It will also come close to and affect St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat, also under hurricane warnings, but perhaps positioned far enough north of the storm to miss its brunt.
The worst part of the storm is also likely to pass a good deal south of Barbuda and Antigua, already damaged from Hurricane Irma, but they may still get brushed by some strong wind gusts and heavy showers.
Puerto Rico has opened shelters and began to dismantle construction cranes that could be vulnerable to high winds as it prepared for Maria. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló told reporters: “It is time to 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.”
Maria is a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds. Maria ya es un huracan de Categoria 4 con vientos de 130 mph. #prwx #usviwx pic.twitter.com/5jq1VDVzgy
— NWS San Juan (@NWSSanJuan) September 18, 2017
The National Weather Service confirmed that Maria is a Category 4 hurricane via their Twitter. Nearly 70,000 people remain without power, and Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned of another widespread outage.
Officials in Puerto Rico imposed a rationing of basic supplies including water and baby formula Monday, saying it is necessary to ensure everyone has access to basic items such as batteries, milk, canned foods, flashlights and other things. It does not apply to gasoline or other fuels.
On Tuesday, Maria should mostly pass through a patch of the Caribbean free of islands before potentially closing in on St. Croix, now under a hurricane warning, late in the day or at night. This island was one of the few U.S. Virgin Islands that was spared Irma’s wrath, but may well get hammered by Maria.
By Thursday, the storm is likely to pass very close to or directly affect Puerto Rico from southeast to northwest. A hurricane has not made landfall in Puerto Rico since Georges in 1998.