SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: A second powerful storm in as many weeks was bearing down on a string of battered Caribbean islands, with forecasters saying that Maria had strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday and would intensify before hitting the Leeward Islands on Monday night.
Maria was about 275 miles (445 km) east-southeast of the Leeward island of Dominica with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kph) per hour at 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT), the US National Hurricane Center said.
“Maria ... could be near major hurricane intensity when it affects portions of the Leeward Islands over the next few days, bringing dangerous wind, storm surge and rainfall hazards,” the forecaster said.
Maximum sustained winds were expected to accelerate to 120 miles per hour within 72 hours, by which time the hurricane could reach the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, a US territory with a weakened economy and fragile power grid.
The government of Puerto Rico has already begun preparations for Maria, which is expected to make landfall there on Tuesday, officials said.
The storm is moving west-northwest at about 15 miles per hour (24 kph) and is expected to cross the Leeward Islands on Monday night, the NHC said.
Hurricane warnings were in place for the French island of Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat, while a hurricane watch was in effect for US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, and Anguilla.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia and Martinique.
Maria is approaching the eastern Caribbean less than two weeks after Irma hammered the region before overrunning Florida. That storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the Atlantic with winds up to 185 miles per hour (298 kph), killed at least 84 people, more than half of them in the Caribbean.
The NHS also issued a tropical storm watch for portions of the US mid-Atlantic and New England coast by Tuesday as a second hurricane, Jose, moved slowly north from its current position in the Atlantic Ocean about 335 miles (535 km) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
The eye of Jose, with top sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (150 kph), should remain off the US East Coast, the NHS said.
Even so, by Tuesday it could bring tropical storm conditions from Fenwick Island, Delaware, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and from East Rockaway Inlet on New York’s Long Island to the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.
Up to five inches (13 cm) of rain could fall over parts of the area, and the storm could bring dangerous surf and rip currents as well.
Hurricane Maria threatens weary Caribbean with more destruction
Hurricane Maria threatens weary Caribbean with more destruction
Trump discussing how to acquire Greenland; US military always an option, White House says
- Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States
- Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
The White House said in a statement in response to queries from Reuters that Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House said.
A senior US official said discussions about ways to acquire Greenland are active in the Oval Office and that advisers are discussing a variety of options.
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump, the official said.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about the president’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright US purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association with the territory. A COFA agreement would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US.
A potential purchase price was not provided.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the US due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labor shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland on Tuesday, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people.
