RAISING' CANE AGAIN
Irma isles in harm’s way
Hurricane Maria morphed into a Category 5 monster on Monday as storm-weary residents of the Caribbean were urged to flee their already Irma-ravaged homes and seek shelter.
By the time Maria nears the Virgin Islands on Tuesday and Puerto Rico a day later, it could pack 160-mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“If you’re alive and well, you can rebuild,” US Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp said. “If you’re out there trying to hold on to your property, it’s not going to be a good outcome.”
Tenants of the badly damaged Tutu High Rise community on St. Thomas — where one woman died during Hurricane Irma earlier this month — underwent a mandatory evacuation Monday.
Photos of the building show blown-out windows and debris still strewn across floors. A curfew takes effect Tuesday at 10 a.m.
“We’re in hurricane alley so we’ve had other storms, but noth- ing like this,” said island resident Beth Tamplin Jones, 45, who rode out Irma in the pantry of a pal’s home on St. John. “I don’t think anybody’s ever been hit by a storm like that. To see another one coming is just so discouraging.”
Expected rainfall of between 10 and 15 inches could easily bring flash floods and mudslides.
“We’re hopeful this is the last event for the year,” Mapp said. “By 2 p.m. you’re going to start experiencing tropical-storm winds onon StSt. Croix-Croix, and then we’re going to have a very long night.”
Puerto Rico narrowly avoided catastrophe when Irma ripped through much of the region.
“We want to alert the people of Puerto Rico that this is not an event like we’ve ever seen before,” Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Monday. “It is time to seek refuge with a family member, friend or head to a state shelter.”
Ernesto Morales, with the US National Weather Service in San Juan, urged Puerto Ricans to take maximum precautions.
“This storm promises to be catastrophic for our island,” he said. “All of Puerto Rico will experience hurricane-force winds.”
The White House declared a state of emergency on the US commonwealth, authorizing FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate disaster-relief efforts.