Hurricane Maria: Caribbean islands brace for 'potentially catastrophic' impact as storm barrels towards Puerto Rico

One person has killed and two others are missing after the category five storm made landfall on Tuesday
Islanders board up windows of a business in Puerto Rico
AFP/Getty Images
Jonathan Mitchell19 September 2017

Caribbean islands already devastated by Irma are bracing for another "potentially catastrophic" storm as the category five Hurricane Maria continues to barrel towards Puerto Rico.

One person has already been killed by after the storm made landfall on the French island of Guadeloupe, with the Hurricane Maria battering the island with 160mph winds.

The island of Dominica was also left ravaged by the storm, with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit saying it had left behind “mind-boggling” destruction.

The storm is now expected to sweep through the Caribbean over the next couple of days, hitting Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands on Wednesday.

Hurricane Maria - In pictures

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The islands are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Irma two weeks ago, which left dozens dead and flattened buildings across the Caribbean.

Maria had briefly been downgraded to a category four storm after making landfall in Dominica on Monday, but US Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft reported it had returned to the highest level.

Emergency steps are being undertaken on the BVI to prepare for the looming onslaught, although an official co-ordinating the operation has warned the islands had been "weakened" by Irma and the situation "doesn't look good".

Path of Hurricane Maria - map

Pictures have emerged of residents on the island boarding up their homes in Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands as people brace for more destruction.

The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) called Maria is a "potentially catastrophic" storm, adding: "Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Maria is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous category four or five hurricane until it moves near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico."

Another British overseas territory, Montserrat, has been issued with a hurricane warning amid fears Maria could bring a devastating storm surge, while torrential rain could trigger deadly flash floods.

UK International Development Secretary Priti Patel said the Government is under no illusion about the possible impact of the strengthening hurricane and said they were taking steps to prepare communities.

A man covers the windows of a supermarket in preparation for Hurricane Maria in San Juan, Puerto Rico
REUTERS

The Foreign Office is advising against all travel to the BVI, warning residents to identify shelter "immediately" and be ready to take cover when the hurricane approaches, as well as all but essential travel to Montserrat.

Following a similar path to Irma, Maria is expected to reach the British Virgin Islands late on Tuesday night and into Wednesday.

Brigadier John Ridge, the second in command of the UK's Joint Task Force, said whichever direction the hurricane went, "it is bad".

"They are either going to get the wind, which will pick up all the debris that is lying around," he said.

"And also, irritatingly, where they have made progress in getting covers over the houses and power lines up, it will potentially damage that again.

Hurricane Maria is heading straight towards Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands
EPA

"Or they get a huge amount of rain, which is also bad because of the blockages in the drainage channels - so the potential for some quite serious flooding as well.

"Whatever happens, it doesn't look good sadly."

Meanwhile the NHC has issued a hurricane watch, meaning hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the area, for the island of Anguilla, a British overseas territory badly affected by Hurricane Irma.

Up to 15in (38cm) of rain is predicted to fall as Maria barrels across the Caribbean, with "isolated maximum amounts of 20in (51cm)" expected to deluge the British Virgin Islands.

In Anguilla up to 8in (20cm) could be recorded. The NHC has warned that "rainfall on these islands could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides".

People clear debris in Saint-Pierre, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, after it was hit by Hurricane Maria
AFP/Getty Images

Brigadier Ridge said the combination of tidal surges and flooding on the British Virgin Islands is something that is worrying the governor, Gus Jaspert.

"They had an hour's rain a few days ago and that created four foot of flooding, so if you get potentially 12 hours of rain you can imagine how much worse that will be," he added.

Dominica's prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit said the hurricane had wrought "widespread devastation" and the islanders had "lost all what money can buy and replace".

He said in a Facebook post: "The winds have swept away the roofs of almost every person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with."

 A motorist drives through flood water in Fort de France
AFP/Getty Images

Hurricane Maria arrived in the region less than two weeks after Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms in decades, unleashed devastation.

More than 1,300 UK troops are currently deployed in the region, and were sent to help with relief and repair work after Hurricane Irma caused chaos.

An additional 42-strong military resilience team has also been deployed to the BVI ready to offer support and assistance after Maria has hit.

HMS Ocean, which is carrying another 60 tonnes of aid to complement the 75 tonnes of DfID relief items which have already arrived, will drop anchor in the region this weekend.