LATEST TRENDS

Maria is expected to become a dangerous major hurricane as it nears the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. The category one hurricane will rapidly strengthen over the next 48 hours and will hit the islands late on Monday, says the US National Hurricane Center. It is moving roughly along the same path as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region this month. Hurricane warnings have been issued for Guadeloupe, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat and Martinique. A hurricane watch is now in effect for Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, St Martin, St Barts, Saba, St Eustatius and Anguilla. In its latest update on Monday, the NHC says Maria has maximum sustained winds of 90mph (150 km/h). The eye of the storm is 100 miles east of Martinique, and Maria is moving west-northwest at about 13mph.

Maria muscled up Sunday from a tropical storm into a hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph. Maria is moving toward the west-northwest near 15 mph. On the forecast track, the center of Maria will move across the Leeward Islands Monday night and then over the extreme northeastern Caribbean Sea on Tuesday. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Maria could be near major hurricane intensity when it moves across the Leeward Islands Monday night. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles.