SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Hurricane Maria intensified into a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm Monday as it surged toward islands in the eastern Caribbean, and forecasters warned it might become even stronger.
The storm’s eye was expected to pass near Dominica during the night and then on Tuesday brush past many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and head toward a possible direct strike on Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
On Dominica, zinc roofs began blowing off homes as the outer edge of the storm moved in during the evening.
Authorities had closed schools and government offices on the island and urged people to move from dangerous areas to shelters.
“We should treat the approaching hurricane very, very seriously,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit warned. “This much water in Dominica is dangerous.”