After Hurricane Irma hit a little over a week ago, island residents are once again preparing for a devastating round two with Hurricane Maria. Maria is already stronger and forecasted to be more devastating than Irma. Hurricane Maria is “an extremely dangerous Category 4 or 5 hurricane,” the National Hurricane Center said. It has recorded wind speeds between 155 mph and 160 mph.
“I would say it compares to Katrina, definitely, if not worse.” said Jacob Bradley, an emergency response technician from Arkansas.
Maria is en route to hit many of the same islands that were devastated by the wrath of Irma. The Leeward Islands are now under hurricane warnings, including Guadeloupe, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Montserrat. The US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are under warnings and advised to evacuate or seek shelter. There are tropical storm warnings for the islands Martinique, Antigua and Barbuda, Saba and St. Lucia, St. Martin, Anguilla and St. Eustatius.
The first landfall was on the island of Dominica around 9 p.m. on Monday night according to CNN.
“This hurricane stayed in the country for a very, very long time and [was] just unrelenting,” Roosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of Dominica, said. “I don’t think there were very many roofs which would survive the hurricane.” Skerrit was one of the many people who lost their metal roof due to the 160 mph winds during Irma. “The winds are merciless! We shall survive by the grace of God,” he said in response.
Many people hoped that the damage wouldn’t be devastating as it was. One of the reasons Maria is so devastating is because the eye has shrunk to 10 miles in diameter. The smaller the eye, the tighter the storm and the faster it will spin, according to Brian McNoldy, a University of Miami hurricane researcher.
The next island on its path of destruction was Puerto Rico, which was hit Wednesday morning. The storm was downgraded to a Category 4 storm after it hit Dominica but its 155 mph wind speeds leave it only two mph shy of a Category 5. The winds were so strong that, according to CNN, it broke two of the national weather services radars.
Most of the power has already been wiped out and conditions are worsening. The storm continues to rage on and is heading northeast but it should avoid hitting the United States. Islanders are hoping that this is the last of the storms for a while so they can recover from this devastating tragedy.
