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Hurricane Maria Churns On, With ‘Fury Aimed at Puerto Rico’ Hurricane Maria Makes Landfall on Puerto Rico as Residents Seek Refuge
(35 minutes later)
Hurricane Maria bore down on Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 storm early Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and winds of up to 155 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. SAN JUAN, P.R. — Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 storm early Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and winds of up to 155 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said.
At 5 a.m., the center said Maria was expected to make landfall “in a couple of hours” after crossing the United States Virgin Islands as a Category 5 storm. It had weakened slightly but remained “extremely dangerous,” the center said. Shortly after 6 a.m., the eye of the storm hit Yabucoa in southeastern Puerto Rico after crossing the United States Virgin Islands as a Category 5 storm. It had weakened slightly but remained “extremely dangerous,” the center said.
The storm has brought new misery to a region that has seen two other powerful hurricanes in recent weeks. Residents of the United States Virgin Islands whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Irma two weeks ago were urged by the government to find new shelters to ride out Maria. As the hurricane moved in, residents across the island were awakened by the clamor of strengthening wind gusts.
“We can hear the wind screaming,” one resident, Jerika Llano, wrote on Twitter. “This is impressive. I am blessed I live in a concrete house but the destruction is imminent.”
By 5 a.m. Wednesday, an estimated 11,229 people had taken refuge in the island’s 500 shelters, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said on Twitter. That represented a significant increase over the roughly 2,800 who had taken shelter by late Tuesday.
The storm has brought new misery to a region that has seen two other powerful hurricanes in recent weeks. Residents of the Virgin Islands whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Irma two weeks ago were urged by the government to find new shelters to ride out Maria.
The storm began pounding the Virgin Islands on Tuesday evening, and a flash-flood alert was sent to residents’ cellphones at 10:05 p.m., Gov. Kenneth Mapp said. He warned that hurricane-strength winds were likely to batter the islands until Wednesday morning.The storm began pounding the Virgin Islands on Tuesday evening, and a flash-flood alert was sent to residents’ cellphones at 10:05 p.m., Gov. Kenneth Mapp said. He warned that hurricane-strength winds were likely to batter the islands until Wednesday morning.
The core of the storm passed south of the United States Virgin Islands, with the outer eyewall lashing St. Croix, the hurricane center said.The core of the storm passed south of the United States Virgin Islands, with the outer eyewall lashing St. Croix, the hurricane center said.
Maria had battered the island nation of Dominica a day earlier. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit described the damage as “mind boggling” and wrote on Facebook that he had to be rescued after winds ripped the roof off his official residence. But little information has emerged since then, with the storm having taken out phone and power lines on Dominica.Maria had battered the island nation of Dominica a day earlier. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit described the damage as “mind boggling” and wrote on Facebook that he had to be rescued after winds ripped the roof off his official residence. But little information has emerged since then, with the storm having taken out phone and power lines on Dominica.
Though the storm’s maximum sustained winds dropped somewhat overnight, the authorities warned early Wednesday that it was still “potentially catastrophic,” bearing “fury aimed at Puerto Rico and Vieques,” a southeastern Puerto Rican island.Though the storm’s maximum sustained winds dropped somewhat overnight, the authorities warned early Wednesday that it was still “potentially catastrophic,” bearing “fury aimed at Puerto Rico and Vieques,” a southeastern Puerto Rican island.
“Right now Maria is a bit weaker because the very tight circulation of the previous eyewall is suddenly disappearing as the outer eyewall replaces it,” said Anthony Sagliani, meteorological operations manager at weather data company Earth Networks.“Right now Maria is a bit weaker because the very tight circulation of the previous eyewall is suddenly disappearing as the outer eyewall replaces it,” said Anthony Sagliani, meteorological operations manager at weather data company Earth Networks.
The storm will be “a powerful hurricane at landfall regardless but might not be as powerful as it could be,” he said.The storm will be “a powerful hurricane at landfall regardless but might not be as powerful as it could be,” he said.
In the town of Cataño in northern Puerto Rico, several houses lost their zinc roofs and the roof of a church was ripped apart, Felix Delgado Montalvo, the town’s mayor, said on a local radio station.
“My message now is not to leave your houses until the situation is over,” he told listeners.
Residents of Puerto Rico braced for a more direct hit than from Irma, which killed three people and knocked out power to many. Widespread outages of Puerto Rico’s creaky electrical network were expected again once Maria arrives in force Wednesday.Residents of Puerto Rico braced for a more direct hit than from Irma, which killed three people and knocked out power to many. Widespread outages of Puerto Rico’s creaky electrical network were expected again once Maria arrives in force Wednesday.