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Article snippet: SAN JUAN, P.R. — Almost two weeks after being grazed as Hurricane Irma battered other islands in the Caribbean, the residents of Puerto Rico were bracing for a potentially devastating sequel: a direct hit from Hurricane Maria, which could be the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the island in close to a century. After slicing through the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, Maria, described as “potentially catastrophic” by the National Hurricane Center, was moving west-northwest at 10 miles per hour over the northeastern Caribbean Sea, with maximum sustained winds of 175 m.p.h., at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday. Maria is expected to produce more than 12 inches of rainfall, which will cause “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides” in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the hurricane center said. Maria’s outer eyewall was lashing St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, and the storm was forecast to cut diagonally, southeast to northwest, through Puerto Rico later in the day. If it hits at high tide Wednesday morning, the surge and waves could raise water levels by up to nine feet, the hurricane center said. It may weaken slightly but is still expected to be an “extremely dangerous category 4 or 5” when it hits Puerto Rico, the center said. “This is an unprecedented atmospheric system,” Ricardo A. Rosselló, the governor of Puerto Rico, said Tuesday. “It is time to act and look for a safe place if you live in flood-prone areas or in wooden or vulnerable structures.”... Link to the full article to read more