Caribbean gets ready for Hurricane Maria

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The islands of the eastern Caribbean prepared Sunday to face another potential disaster, with forecasters saying newly formed and likely to strengthen Hurricane Maria was headed for a hit on the Leeward Islands by tonight.

Hurricane or tropical storm warnings were posted for many of the islands already coping with the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma, including St. Barts and Antigua and Barbuda.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria was expected to gain power and could be near major hurricane strength while crossing through the Leeward Islands late Monday on a path aiming toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h late Sunday afternoon. It was centred about 445 kilometres east-southeast of Dominica and heading west-northwest at 24 km/h.

The hurricane centre said hurricane conditions should begin to affect parts of the Leeward Islands by Monday night, with storm surge raising water levels by 1.2-1.8 metres near the storm’s centre. The storm was predicted to bring 15-30 centimetres of rain across the islands, with more in isolated areas.

It could make a direct hit on Puerto Rico, which was spared the full brunt of Irma, though power was knocked out to much of the island.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello said officials had prepared about 450 shelters with a capacity for nearly 68,000 people — or even 125,000 in an emergency. He said schools were cancelled for Monday and government employees would work only a half day.

Officials in the Dominican Republic urged people to leave areas prone to flooding and said fishermen should remain in port.

Meanwhile, long-lived Hurricane Jose was moving northward off the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard, kicking up dangerous surf and rip currents. It wasn’t expected to make landfall but tropical storm watches were posted for all of the coast from Delaware to Massachusetts’ Cape Cod.

Jose was centred about 535 kilometres southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and was moving north at 15 km/h. It had maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h.

In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Norma’s threat to Mexico’s Los Cabos area appeared to be easing. Forecasters said the storm’s centre was likely to remain offshore.