Islands in the Caribbean had less than two weeks to recover from one of the most destructive hurricanes in the past decade before being hit again by another giant storm — Hurricane Maria.
Hurricane Maria became an apple in the eye of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association no more than four days ago, according to The Guardian. It began as a tropical storm then quickly developed into a category 5 hurricane that the NOAA said had maximum sustained winds of 165 mph as of Tuesday night. It was downgraded to category 4 hurricane Wednesday with winds of 155 mph when it was expected to make landfall in Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Maria, New York Times reports, could produce 12 inches of rainfall that will cause flash flooding and mudslides in both Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Isles.
The U.S. Virgin Islands felt the forces of Maria first, as forecasted by the New York Times. From there, Hurricane Maria moved southeast to northwest toward Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico's public security secretary Héctor Pesquera advised residents in flood-prone areas to evacuate because “If not, you will die,” according to a Newsweek report.
Hurricane Maria has already hit the Dominica. The prime minister of Dominica wrote on behalf of the island that “we have lost all what money can buy and replace,” according to a Washington Post article.
Dominca’s adviser to the prime minister has reported that about seven people have died but that number is expected to climb.
The U.S. Virgin Islands had set up an USVI Recovery page to help St. John and Thomas after Hurricane Irma, and is now using the web page to raise funds to help with recovery after Hurricane Maria. The islands have shared videos showing the destruction left behind in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
Current forecast on Wednesday by Google’s crisis map has Hurricane Maria going off to sea and not making landfall on the east coast.
In just 25 days the Atlantic had four major hurricanes – Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria. Each has reached Category 3 or more according to boston.com.
