Puerto Rico braces for massive hurricane

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Streets usually abuzz with diners, shoppers, and traffic stood silent, shuttered and empty in the centre of San Juan yesterday as the Puerto Rican capital prepared for the onslaught of a massive hurricane.

Category 5 storm Maria was expected to tear across Puerto Rico after barrelling through St Croix in the US Virgin Islands, becoming the second highestcategory hurricane to ravage the Caribbean this month.

Swathes of the Caribbean are still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Irma, which killed more than 80 people as it ploughed through the Leeward Islands, Cuba and Florida this month. Maria has killed at least one person so far.

Puerto Rico avoided a direct hit from Irma, but the storm knocked out power for 70% of the island, and killed at least three people. Maria promises to be worse.

‘‘We know that this hit is going to be much more devastating than the previous one,’’ Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello told National Public Radio.

Maria, a rare category 5 storm lashed the western portion of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands, packing maximum sustained winds of 280kmh, the United States National Hurricane Center said.

Officials in Puerto Rico, a US island territory of about 3.4 million inhabitants, urged residents to take emergency precautions and hunker down while Maria passed over.

Authorities ordered evacuations from most vulnerable areas, and warned of major flooding risks from Maria, which is expected to bring up to 635mm of rain to parts of Puerto Rico.

US President Donald Trump has declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico.

On Tuesday, the storm ploughed into Dominica, a mountainous country of 72,000 people, causing what Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called ‘‘mindboggling’’ destruction.