hurricane maria course tuesday slam puerto rico direct hit could devastate island underfunded power grid still recover hurricane irma two weeks ago category storm top end five-step saffir-simpson scale could strain resources island power provider puerto rico electric power authority prepa utility file bankruptcy july years underinvestment yield system call degrade unsafe maria expect strike island wednesday wind 160 miles per hour 257 km per hour u.s. national hurricane center nhc say irma graze puerto rico knock power million prepa 1.5 million customers accord u.s. energy department 60,000 power restore island power plant severely damage maria however could first major hurricane define category high make landfall since georges 1998 say todd crawford chief meteorologist weather company ibm company could first category since san felipe ii 1928 kill 300 people island generation see hurricane like since san felipe ii 1928. unprecedented atmospheric system say puerto rico governor ricardo rossell statement tuesday island could face outages weeks strain resources utility whose power plant median age 44 years compare industry average 18 years frequent power outages prepa say draft fiscal plan release april years underinvestment lead severe degradation infrastructure even energy system prime condition know still would difficult say nydia suarez work cne group think tank live island plan stay son guaynabo farther inland home san juan utility declare bankruptcy july due billion hole deepen lengthy recession island inconsistent management ineffective collections island power price already high u.s. state hawaii accord u.s. energy department reluctant raise rat generate additional revenues increase capital expenditures island ... population bite depress say rick donner vice president senior credit officer credit rat agency moody investors service new york prepa use plan use irma executive director ricardo ramos say news release first energize hospitals water plant industries utility say refill fuel tank workers collect debris trim tree damage irma near transmission line department energy say work american public power authority appa prepa federal emergency management agency fema get mutual aid workers puerto rico elsewhere 12 days without electricity georges think power system bad fragile expect time without power cne group suarez say puerto rico power grid face generational threat hurricane maria