Hurricane Maria aims Puerto Rico after tearing the eastern Caribbean

September 20, 2017 12:39 PM | Skymet Weather Team

Tropical storm Maria hurtle toward Puerto Rico on Tuesday night after wreaking widespread havoc on Dominica and leaving the little Caribbean island incommunicado. As per the West Indies and Caribbean News, 90% of the buildings on the island have been demolished, most of the connecting roads are blocked due to landslides and there are reports of severe flooding.

Though the British Virgin Islands were not in the direct eye of the horrendous category 5 hurricane, it was still under a catastrophe warning as Maria’s outer bands were stretching across the Caribbean.

As rains have already begun to throttle Puerto Rico, the Governor warned of a strong hit to the Island by Maria. Wide power blackout and correspondence power outage could keep going for a considerable length of time for the Island and will lose a lot on the infrastructures.

Experts cautioned that individuals in wooden or feeble homes should discover safe asylum before the tempest's normal entry on Wednesday.

By Tuesday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Maria's breezes had escalated to 175 mph (280 kph) and extra fortifying was conceivable. At 11 p.m. EST, Maria was focused around 30 miles (45 kilometers) south-southeast of St. Croix, or 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was moving west-northwest at 10 mph (17 kph).

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Maria's middle was relied upon to pass a few miles south of St. Croix that was saved by the harm caused by the recent Hurricane Irma on the chain's St. Thomas and St. John islands only two weeks back. However, this time, the island would encounter five hours of sea tempest compel twists beginning around 11 p.m. EST.

The Dominican Island lost contacts around 4 a.m. By then, authorities had discovered that 70 percent of homes had lost their rooftops. Around 40 percent of the island - 80,000 homes - were without power and flooding was accounted for in a few groups.

Maria will even now be at Category 5 force when it moves over the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday night and Puerto Rico on Wednesday, carrying with it "perilous" flooding from rain and tempest surge.

As per the local forecasters, the hurricane surge could raise water levels by 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) close to the storm's center. It is likely to bring 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain over the islands, with additional in confined territories.

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