Hurricane Maria threatens Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as it follows Hurricane Irma’s path

Though it’s too early to tell yet whether Florida will get hit by Hurricane Maria, a newly named Category 1 hurricane with 80 miles-per-hour sustained maximum winds, the storm is mimicking Irma’s early track through the Caribbean, bringing with it the possibility of damaging winds, dangerous storm surge and rip currents, and heavy rainfall.

Located about 125 miles east northeast of Barbados and 255 miles east southeast from the island of Dominica, Maria was moving west northwest at about 15 mph according to the National Hurricane Center’s 8 p.m. Eastern advisory. Islands that are still recovering from Irma that could be in the direct path of Maria’s center include the Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Martin/St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Bahamas.

By mid-week Maria could strengthen into a “major” hurricane (Category 3 or above), and that is when it could slam into the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, where a Hurricane Watch has been issued, Federal Emergency Management Agency said preparations are underway, including readying extra food and water supplies. FEMA also said an urban search-and-rescue team from Fairfax County, Va., is stationed in Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile Puerto Rico announced on Saturday that 450 shelter across the state have been set up across the territory that can fit up to 67,714 people and that the government is “constant communication” with the White House and federal agencies.

“As we prepare for this atmospheric event, Puerto Rico will continue to offer shelter to our brothers and sisters from the United States Virgin Islands, and other island nations and territories affected by Hurricane Irma,” said Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

Forecasters across the board say it’s too early to tell yet whether the continental U.S. will be faced with another hurricane landfall by the end of September, but also caution that a close watch should be kept on Maria.

Another hurricane, Jose, which for a while threatened the U.S. East Coast in the wake of Hurricane Irma, could actually play a roll in Maria’s future. Now a Category 1 hurricane, Jose still brings the threat of tropical storm conditions on the coast from Delaware to Massachusetts. It is forecast, however, not to make landfall and will curl clockwise out into the Atlantic over the course of the week, weakening into a tropical storm.

The European Model sees a scenario in which Jose and Maria get close and manipulate each other’s paths, in what the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang says is called the “Fujiwara Effect.” During this phenomenon, the model shows the possibility of the storms swinging around each other; and while Maria heads north, Jose gets slung directly into Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland.

A third disturbance in the far eastern Atlantic, Lee, is a tropical depression and is expected to putter out within the next week or so.

The U.S. has already been hit by two “major” hurricanes in recent weeks — Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which by one estimate caused a combined $290 billion in damage. Islands in the Caribbean also endured the wrath of these storms as they developed.

In Florida, where Irma made landfall last weekend, millions of people lost power, and thousands of customers are still without lights and air conditioning. Officials say a at least a couple dozen people died in connection to the storm. President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the state to meet with local and federal officials and people impacted by the storm.

Hurricane season began on June 1 and won’t end until Nov. 30.