Hurricane Maria grows, threatens battered Caribbean

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — Hurricane Maria intensified into a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm late Monday as it surged toward islands in the eastern Caribbean, and forecasters warned it might become even stronger.

The storm’s eye was expected to pass near Dominica during the night and then on Tuesday brush past many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and head toward a possible direct strike on Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

On Dominica, zinc roofs began blowing off homes as the outer edge of the storm moved in during the evening.

“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 on Monday imposed rationing of basic supplies including water, milk, baby formula, canned foods, batteries, flashlights and other items.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 200 km/h Monday afternoon. It was centred about 70 kilometres east-northeast of Martinique — or 115 km east-southeast of Dominica — and heading west-northwest at 17 km/h.

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

Forecasters said hurricane conditions should begin to affect parts of the Leeward Islands by late Monday, with storm surge raising water levels by 1.8 to 2.7 metres near the storm’s centre.

The storm was predicted to bring 15 to 30 centimetres of rain across the islands, with more in isolated areas.

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

“We should not take this storm lightly,” said Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit. “Let us continue to pray for our safety.”

Officials in Guadeloupe said the French Caribbean island of would experience extremely heavy flooding starting Monday afternoon, and they warned that many communities would 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 has hurricane-force winds that extend about 24 km from the eye, and tropical storm force winds out as far as 205 km. The current forecast track would carry it about 35 km 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.

On Wednesday, Maria was expected to be near or over Puerto Rico, which was spared the full brunt of Irma, although much of the island had its power knocked out. Nearly 70,000 people remain without power.

Forecasters said the storm would dump up to 46 centimetres 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.