Powerful Hurricane Maria makes landfall on Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO : Hurricane Maria roared ashore in Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the strongest storm to hit the US territory in about 90 years after lashing the US Virgin Islands and devastating a string of tiny Caribbean islands, killing at least one person.

Packing 250kph winds and driving high storm surges, Maria made landfall near Yabouca, the National Hurricane Center said. It was heading northwest, on a track directly over the island of 3.4 million people.

It struck just days after the region was punched by Hurricane Irma, which ranked as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, which left a trail of destruction on several Caribbean islands and Florida.

“We have not experienced an event of this magnitude in our modern history,” Ricardo Rossello, governor of Puerto Rico, said in a televised message on Tuesday. “Although it looks like a direct hit with major damage to Puerto Rico is inevitable, I ask for America’s prayers,” he said, adding the government has set up 500 shelters.

In Puerto Rico, Maria is expected to dump as much as 63.5 cm of rain on parts of the island, the NHC said.

Storm surges, when hurricanes push ocean water dangerously over normal levels, could be up to 2.74 metres.

The heavy rainfall could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, it added.