Hurricane Maria barrels toward Puerto Rico after crippling Dominica

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

Hurricane Maria's destructive tear across the Caribbean is well underway, with the storm obliterating parts of Dominica and threatening "catastrophic" damage to Puerto Rico.

"No generation has seen a hurricane like this since San Felipe II in 1928," Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Tuesday. "This is an unprecedented atmospheric system."

He urged Puerto Ricans to find safe shelters immediately, as emergency workers "will not be available to help you once the winds reach 50 mph."

"We need to keep in mind that we must also protect the lives of these first responders. It's time to act and look for a safe place if you live in flood-prone areas or in wooden or vulnerable structures," Rosselló said.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/19/americas/hurricane-maria-caribbean-islands/index.html

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Fortunately, it appears to be veering away from Hispanola and Florida.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. All of the news about Hurrican Maria is oddly silent

about the fact that just a couple of weeks ago Hurricane Irma, while not making a direct hit, did do rather a lot of damage.

It's sort of as if the Hurricane Gods decided that Irma wasn't enough, and conjured up Maria to make absolutely certain Puerto Rico got the message. What that message might be, I'm not sure, other than "If you live in a part of the world where hurricanes occur, then eventually you'll be hit."