Another powerful storm was bearing down on a string of battered Caribbean islands on Sunday, with forecasters saying that Maria had strengthened into a hurricane and would intensify before hitting the Leeward Islands on Monday night. Maria was about 275 miles (445km) east-southeast of the Leeward island of Dominica with maximum sustained winds of 75mph (100km/h) at 4pm (8pm GMT), the US National Hurricane Center said.

The forecaster said: “Maria … could be near major hurricane intensity when it affects portions of the Leeward Islands over the next few days, bringing dangerous wind, storm surge and rainfall hazards.” Maximum sustained winds were expected to accelerate to 120mph within 72 hours, by which time the hurricane could reach the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, a US territory with a weakened economy and fragile power grid. The government of Puerto Rico has already begun preparations for Maria, which is expected to make landfall there on Tuesday, officials said. The storm is moving west-northwest at about 15mph (24km/h) and is expected to cross the Leeward Islands on Monday night, the NHC said. Hurricane warnings were in place for the French island of Guadeloupe, Dominica, St Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat, while a hurricane watch was in effect for the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Saba and St Eustatius, St Maarten, St Martin and St Barthelemy and Anguilla.(theguardian)…[+]