The eye of the “potentially catastrophic” Hurricane Maria was nearing St Croix on Tuesday evening, with Puerto Rico in its crosshairs.
Maria was 30 miles south-southeast of St Croix late Tuesday evening, and about 120 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
It was expected to reach southeastern Puerto Rico Wednesday morning.
Maria’s maximum sustained winds were near 175 miles per hour with higher gusts; the storm was forecast to remain an “extremely dangerous” category 4 or 5 storm as it moved near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
The National Hurricane Center said storm surges would lead to major flooding, with water expected to reach between six and nine feet above ground in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands if peak surged occurred at high tide.
A Hurricane Warning is now in effect for the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Culebra, Vieques and the portion of the Dominican Republic between Cabo Engano and Puerto Plata.
There were also tropical storm warnings in effect for Saba, St Eustatius and St Maarten, according to the NOAA.
The storm had already caused significant damage in Dominica that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called “mind-boggling.”
Although the extent was not yet clear, there were unconfirmed reports of six deaths on the island, which was now experiencing a communications blackout.
Guadeloupe was also hit hard, with at least one dead and two people missing and widespread flooding.
Neighboring Martinique had what officials termed limited damage, however.
It’s the second severe hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month, after Hurricane Irma devastated much of the Virgin Islands, St Maarten and St Barth.
(Source: Caribjournal)
Maria was 30 miles south-southeast of St Croix late Tuesday evening, and about 120 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
It was expected to reach southeastern Puerto Rico Wednesday morning.
Maria’s maximum sustained winds were near 175 miles per hour with higher gusts; the storm was forecast to remain an “extremely dangerous” category 4 or 5 storm as it moved near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
The National Hurricane Center said storm surges would lead to major flooding, with water expected to reach between six and nine feet above ground in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands if peak surged occurred at high tide.
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| The projected path of Maria |
A Hurricane Warning is now in effect for the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Culebra, Vieques and the portion of the Dominican Republic between Cabo Engano and Puerto Plata.
There were also tropical storm warnings in effect for Saba, St Eustatius and St Maarten, according to the NOAA.
The storm had already caused significant damage in Dominica that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called “mind-boggling.”
Although the extent was not yet clear, there were unconfirmed reports of six deaths on the island, which was now experiencing a communications blackout.
Guadeloupe was also hit hard, with at least one dead and two people missing and widespread flooding.
Neighboring Martinique had what officials termed limited damage, however.
It’s the second severe hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month, after Hurricane Irma devastated much of the Virgin Islands, St Maarten and St Barth.
(Source: Caribjournal)
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