The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Caribbean gets ready for another weather lashing
HURRICANE: Islands on alert as Maria gets ready to unleash more chaos
British overseas territories in the Caribbean face being lashed by another major hurricane as they attempt to recover from the deadly devastation unleashed by Irma.
The US National Hurricane Centre said Hurricane Maria was strengthening and has issued a warning for Guadeloupe, Martinique and the British overseas territory of Montserrat.
Saint Martin, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands are all under hurricane watch, the centre added.
Maria is producing winds of 85mph (140kph) which are predicted to increase as the storm follows a similar path to Irma.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is advising against all travel to the British Virgin Islands as Maria is expected to make landfall on Tuesday or Wednesday, with severe damage and coastal flooding expected.
Similar warnings against all but essential travel are in place for Montserrat and Anguilla.
Before that, Maria is set to arrive in Barbados on Sunday evening, although Brigadier John Ridge, the second in command of the Joint Task Force stressed it is not clear exactly which way it will track.
“If it tracks straight through here our problems are going to be the strength of the winds. If it tracks north of here, we will be on the edge of the rain,” he said.
“Even with an hour of rain here at the moment, it runs straight off as there is no vegetation.
“Normally it would get absorbed by the leaves. That’s not there and the storm drains which then divert the flow have all been blocked by the detritus that have run off the hills.
Chris Austin from the Department for International Development, now leading the UK’s response, said the Joint Task Force has already provided 75 tonnes of aid – including shelter kits, food and water – but that the 5,000 tarpaulins already distributed could be lost in the weather. “We are planning for the unexpected, we are planning for the worst,” Mr Austin said.