Forecasters: Maria Could Hit Puerto Rico as Cat 4 Hurricane

Another powerful hurricane is brewing in the Caribbean, less than two weeks after Category 5 Irma smashed the region and then slammed into Florida. Hurricane “Maria is expected to become a major hurricane as it moves through the Leeward Islands,” said a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center early Monday, and it will be marked by “rapid strengthening” during the next 48 hours. Now at Category 3 strength, Maria is approaching the Lesser Antilles and is expected to rip into the Leeward Islands—home of the already-devastated U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and St. Martin/St. Marteen—on Monday night. Ominously, it is forecast to ramp up to Category 3 or 4 strength and hit several islands, including Puerto Rico. Just a week ago, Hurricane Irma—one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic—killed at least 84 people in the Caribbean and U.S.