Deadly Hurricane Maria set its eye on Turks and Caicos on Friday after leaving Haiti and the northern coast of the Dominican Republic drenched and battered.



The Category 3 storm was centered about 35 miles east-northeast of Grand Turk island and was moving northwest at 7 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 6:30 a.m. update. Maria is expected to weaken during the next two days and veer into the open Atlantic. It is not set to threaten the U.S. mainland.

Rains and dangerous high waves began to subside in the island of Hispanola, where Maria knocked down trees and power lines. Joel Santos, president of the country’s hotel association, said the hurricane didn't damage the tourism infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico residents face the prospect of going weeks, perhaps even months without electricity. Some are contemplating leaving.

“You cannot live here without power,” said Hector Llanos, a 78-year-old retired New York police officer who planned to leave Saturday for the U.S. mainland.

Maria is the second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month and the strongest storm to hit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in nearly 90 years.

Maria has already claimed at least 19 lives, however, additional deaths were being reported and the actual death toll was unlikely to be known for several days.

The territory's $73 billion debt crisis had left agencies such as the state power company broke even before the storm hit. It abandoned most basic maintenance in recent years, leaving the island subject to regular blackouts.

"We knew this was going to happen given the vulnerable infrastructure," Gov. Ricardo Rossello said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would open an air bridge from the mainland on Friday, with three to four military planes flying to the island every day carrying water, food, generators and temporary shelters.

"There's a humanitarian emergency here in Puerto Rico," Rossello said. "This is an event without precedent."

The government has hired 56 small contractors to clear trees and put up new power lines and poles and will be sending tanker trucks to supply neighborhoods as they run out of water. The entire island has been declared a federal disaster zone.

Cellphone and internet service collapsed in much of Puerto Rico. The only radio station that remained on the air during the hurricane — WAPA 680 AM — was relaying messages to help connect friends and families.

President Trump told reporters the island had been “totally obliterated” and he planned to visit, Reuters reported. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced plans to visit Puerto Rico.

Maria’s death toll across the Caribbean, meanwhile, climbed to at least 19, nearly all of them on the hard-hit island of Dominica.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit wept as he spoke to a reporter on the nearby island of Antigua.

"It is a miracle there were not hundreds of deaths," he said, adding: "Dominica is going to need all the help the world has to offer."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Buckeye Partners (NYSE:BPL) says its Yabucoa oil terminal in Puerto Rico remains closed in the wake of Hurricane Maria's trail of destruction left across the Caribbean.

BPL has not said if the tanks at the 4.6M-barrel terminal were damaged by the storm, which made landfall near Yabucoa, but a full assessment of the facility is underway.

NuStar Energy's (NYSE:NS) larger terminal on the island of St. Eustatius, with capacity to store up to 13M barrels of oil, also has not reopened after Hurricane Irma affected several tanks.

The closure of Caribbean oil terminals and loading restrictions for large vessels in several Texas ports have constrained flows of crude and refined products across the Atlantic in recent weeks.</s>Even before the Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the island was in dire condition.Still r eeling from a decade-long economic slide that was far deeper than the Great Recession on the mainland and that many islanders feel was largely ignored by Washington.

Now, nearly all 3.4 million people on the island are sitting in the dark amid widespread pessimism about the future of this tropical U.S. territory and whether they should expect much help. Along streets strewn with tree limbs, downed power lines and muck, it's easy to find Puerto Ricans trying to decide if they should pick up and leave, joining the 450,000 who have moved to the mainland over the past decade in search of a better life.

Authorities confirmed at least six deaths but were still assessing the damage and trying to reach communities cut off by the storm.

"This is an absolute crisis," 44-year-old Alana Yendez said as she cradled her 2-month-old grandson and gave him a bottle of scarce baby formula in the Santurce section of San Juan. "This storm crushed us from one end of the island to the other."

An Associated Press photographer captured the following images of the terrible conditions:</s>The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) stood down on September 20 after 60 hours of activation for Hurricane Maria as did the VoIP Hurricane Net and WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center. The International Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) SSB Net will be in extended monitoring mode through Friday.

“The latest storm track is very good news for the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic,” the Assistant HWN Manager Mike Webb, KC0YHM, said on Wednesday. “We will watch the storm as it progresses...just in case.” The net wrapped up its activation by gathering damage reports and offering health-and-welfare guidance.

The VoIP Hurricane Net stood down as of Wednesday night after activating on September 19 as Hurricane Maria affected Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The VoIP Hurricane Net also was active on Monday, September 18, gathering numerous reports of severe and catastrophic damage from the island nation of Dominica. A recorded summary of reports received and a complete list of reports received from all media available to the net are available.

SATERN was active on Wednesday as stations from the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico began to check in following Hurricane Maria’s passage.

“Although the US Virgin Islands were heavily damaged, it was apparent that they had some limited communications capabilities and other resources,” said SATERN National Liaison Bill Feist, WB8BZH. “All of the Puerto Rican operators reported that there was an island-wide power and communications blackout. It was reported that Amateur Radio seemed to be the only communications that were operational, and that was somewhat limited as many 2-meter repeater systems were still not operational. There is no operational public water system and many local roads are impassable although some major roads have been cleared.”

International SATERN SSB Net Manager Ken Gilliland, AG6SV, relayed a report from N8PR in Florida that Amateur Radio operators on Dominica have set up an e-mail link to handle individually identified health-and-welfare messages. Feist said SATERN will continue to be in Delta II (extended monitoring) status from 1400 until 2300 UTC, continuing this schedule at least through Friday, September 22.

The American Red Cross Safe and Well website is a free public reunification tool that allows individuals and organizations to register and post messages to indicate that they are safe, or to search for loved ones. The site is always available and open to the public and available in English and Spanish. Registrations and searches can be done directly on the website.</s>Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean this week.

Dominica took a direct hit from Maria on Monday night shortly after it strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane. At least two dozen people were killed.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit had to be rescued after the ferocious winds tore the roof off his residence. He said in a Facebook post that winds had blown the roof off of the house of nearly every person he had spoken to. At least 90 percent of buildings across the island were destroyed, WIC News reported. 





Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning as a Category 4 hurricane - the first Category 4 storm to make landfall in Puerto Rico since the San Ciprian hurricane in 1932.

In addition to devastating flooding, the storm cut power to 100 percent of the island. Power may not be restored for months, some officials fear.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced a 12-hour curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. effective until Saturday.

“The damage is very extensive,” he told CNN. “It is nothing short of a major disaster.”

Maria impacted Hispaniola Thursday and early Friday morning with torrential rain, powerful winds and rough surf. One person reportedly died in a landslide in the Dominican Republic.

While Hurricane Jose didn't make a United States landfall, it unleashed coastal flooding, beach erosion, gusty winds and rain over the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts.

A powerful earthquake hit near Mexico City this week, killing more than 240 and causing extensive damage.

The magnitude-7.1 earthquake hit about 76 miles (123 km) southeast of Mexico City and was felt across the country. 





Several buildings completely collapsed, including a school. Twenty-one children and four adults were killed when the Enrique Rebsamen school on the city's south side collapsed. More than a month's worth of rain fell across parts of Mumbai in just 24 hours from Tuesday into Wednesday. Almost 12 inches of rain (303.7 mm) fell in the city from Tuesday to Wednesday, the second highest 24-hour September rainfall total on record. Another 2.5 inches (63 mm) fell from Wednesday to Thursday. Flooding resulted in travel chaos as roads were under water and trains and flights were delayed or canceled. On Wednesday, residents were forced to wade through knee-deep water to reach their place for work and business, according to the Hindustan Times.</s>CHICAGO (CBS) — Daddy Yankee plans to accept donations tonight at his concert at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom, for the natural disasters impacting Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rican artist, known for the hits “Despacito” and “Gasolina,” is asking fans to contribute to the relief efforts for the destruction caused by hurricanes Maria and Irma and the earthquake that has killed over 270 people in central Mexico.

Yesterday he took donations at his New York concert and filled four trucks with supplies.

He has also raised more than $66,000 for Feeding America. The food bank will send food to Puerto Rico. The island is still without power, and at least 13 people have died. Hurricane Maria killed at least 30 people across the Caribbean.

Daddy Yankee is requesting water bottles, batteries, diapers, ropes, and first aid kits.

The concert will start at 7:00 pm and donations will be collected at the entrance of the venue.</s>CLEVELAND - With power out across the entire island, Northeast Ohio residents with family in Puerto Rico are anxiously waiting to hear from them. Some were in contact as the worst of Hurricane Maria struck, but have not heard from them since.

"A lot of people were taking videos on Facebook live and all that stuff, before it got there, but it was very messy," said Papo Ruiz.

Ruiz owns Rincon Criollo Restaurant at West 65th and Detroit in Cleveland. The family of one of his employees took this video in the southwestern coastal town of Guayanilla Wednesday morning. It was a minute into a Facebook Messenger live broadcast when the winds blew off the neighbor's roof.

"We are very worried about what's going on, and it's been one of the worst, if not the worst hurricane that has been in Puerto Rico," Ruiz said.

Papo Ruiz also has relatives in Puerto Rico, just like many of his employees. Wednesday afternoon, they all were waiting to hear from their loved ones.

"It's a bad feeling, sad feeling about it, thinking that we don't know about them...we don't know what's going on, wondering if they're alive or not," he said.

"I'm a little nervous because my godmother, I'm really close to her and I called there and it sent me straight to voicemail, so it makes me a little nervous because I don't know how she's doing," said Genesis Morales.

Morales, an employee, is also worried about the fate of her family, but like everyone else, she's praying they are safe.

"My dad spoke to my grandparents this morning and he said that it was like, if there were construction working outside, because of the wind and like a sink was open because there was so much water coming in," Morales said.

They're frustrated. It could be a long time before they hear anything, since damage and power outages are spread across the entire island.

"They say no news is good news...we got to pray to God because on these things, we have to unite," said Ruiz.</s>HOUSTON (Reuters) - Buckeye Partners LP's Yabucoa oil terminal in Puerto Rico remained closed on Friday, the company said, days after Hurricane Maria left a trail of destruction and at least 25 people dead across the Caribbean.

The U.S. oil storage and transportation company did not say if the tanks at the 4.6-million-barrel terminal were damaged by the storm, which made landfall near Yabucoa, but it said a full assessment of the facility is under way.

"We are working to maintain the safety and well-being of our Yabucoa, Puerto Rico employees," it said in a statement.

A larger terminal operated by U.S. NuStar Energy LP on the island of St. Eustatius, with capacity to store up to 13.03 million barrels of oil, also has been unable to reopen after a previous hurricane, Irma, affected several tanks.

The closure of oil terminals in the Caribbean and restrictions to load and discharge large vessels in several Texas ports have constrained flows of crude and refined products across the Atlantic in recent weeks.

Maria, the second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month, lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands on Friday after knocking out power to all of Puerto Rico and pushing several rivers to record flood levels.</s>The British Virgin Islands have been “spared the worst” from Hurricane Maria, the governor has said, as the storm continues her path of destruction towards another UK overseas territory.

Claiming the lives of at least nine people so far, Maria has barrelled across the Caribbean and unleashed devastation on islands in its path.

Ravaging both Dominica and Puerto Rico, a hurricane warning is currently in place for the Turks and Caicos islands, with winds of 110mph and up to 16 inches of rain expected.

The US National Hurricane Centre warned that although the storm was no longer a category five, “some strengthening” could take place and “Maria could regain major hurricane status”.

Gus Jaspert, governor of the British Virgin Islands, which was wrecked by Hurricane Irma two weeks ago, said initial assessments suggested fresh damage is relatively low.

“We had high winds, we had a bit of flooding, and we had bit of a storm surge that knocked out some of the roads – but that thankfully we have been spared the worst”, he said.

“We are very mindful that others and colleagues in the region felt its full force and our thoughts are very much with them at the moment.”

Mr Jaspert said one of his first priorities on Thursday is to head to the other British Virgin Islands on a helicopter from RFA Mounts Bay to fully assess the damage there.

“We prepared for the worst, it hasn’t been the worst which is good. We are back on to our recovery focus, which is our key thing,” he said.

He revealed that there were no deaths, but that someone who was seriously injured during the latest hurricane is due to be medevaced off Virgin Gorda on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Maria was the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, destroying homes and plunging the entire island into darkness after taking down power lines.

Widespread flooding was also reported, with some streets turned into raging rivers by the deluge of rain water.

Puerto Rico’s emergency management director Abner Gomez said the weather system had “destroyed everything in its path”.

The island of Dominica, where Maria made landfall on Monday, lost nearly all of its communications as the storm knocked out phone lines and the island’s broadcast service. According to reports, 70% of properties lost their roofs.

Mr Jaspert said he had sent messages of support to his colleagues in both Puerto Rico and Dominica, who he said had been “fantastic in the past at helping us out”.

Describing the storm as it passed, the father-of-two said it was “long and drawn out”, with a “bit of an impact in the middle of the night, very strong winds, lots of debris was flying around”.

With some flooding affecting the island of Tortola, he added: “The key priority really is bouncing back into our recovery mode.”

Mr Jaspert said the arrival of HMS Ocean on Friday, which is carrying 60 tonnes of UK aid, will “turbo charge” their repair work and recovery efforts.

With roads, schools, the airport, the police headquarters, homes and many other buildings damaged as a result of Irma, he said there was a lot of work to be carried out.

“We have got huge ambitions and we want to genuinely get this place back, quickly. Not just to where it was, but to a place that is even better than before,” Mr Jaspert said.

“The long term is this is going to be a really fantastic functioning market economy – it needs some short term aid and support and we are getting that in now.

“But actually we want to bounce back and become an example of how you rebuild after a disaster.

“It is almost strong words at the moment because there is so much devastation here, but I am excited about the long term prospects.”

Sir Richard Branson, whose private Necker Island was struck by Hurricane Irma, said Maria brought “lots of howling rain”. Posting on Instagram, he said: “Word from the bunker is that all are safe on Necker. Lots of howling rain (2+ feet) but all ok.

“The night of a thousand buckets… yet to hear the latest on the rest of the BVI, thoughts are with our friends in Puerto Rico and all in Hurricane Maria’s path.”

In an accompanying video, the billionaire businessman said: “All of us just need to rally together to campaign on getting on top of climate change on a global basis so that events like this do not become recurring incidents.”</s>As Hurricane Maria slams Puerto Rico with devastating force, scientists at the historic Arecibo Observatory are among the millions of people being battered by the storm.

A spokeswoman for the National Science Foundation, which owns the massive radio telescope, said that all on-site staff were safe as of 8 a.m. Wednesday. Monitors on the observatory's platform recorded wind speeds of 90 miles per hour, and multiple trees had been knocked down.

The eye of the storm is expected to pass just east of Arecibo early Wednesday afternoon.

The observatory in the northwestern municipality of Arecibo is the world's second-largest radio telescope. The 1,000-foot primary dish, built into a sinkhole in a mountain range, has been used to discover the first exoplanets and detect organic molecules in a galaxy millions of light-years away. It's where the fictional astronomer Ellie Arroway got her start in the movie “Contact,” and where real scientists Frank Drake, Jill Tarter and Carl Sagan, among others, launched efforts to detect extraterrestrial life.

The observatory has been closed since Monday so staff and researchers could make preparations for the storm. A small group of facilities personnel and management will be sent back Thursday afternoon to inspect for damage, according to NSF spokeswoman Aya Collins. If conditions are good and the road to the observatory is clear, the NSF hopes to resume normal scientific operations Friday.

Planetary scientist Ed Rivera-Valentín said he and several others would be riding out the storm at Arecibo. On Tuesday evening, he tweeted weather data taken from the observatory platform that showed the telescope being buffeted by ever-faster winds.

Radio astronomer Robert Minchin shared photos of people putting wooden and metal storm shutters over the control room windows.

But around 11:05 p.m. Tuesday, Minchin said he'd lost power. “Will be tweeting by SMS if network stays up,” he said. As of Wednesday morning, that was the last message he'd sent.

The Web page that Rivera-Valentín had shared displaying weather data from the observatory was also offline Wednesday.

Suraiya Farukhi of the Universities Space Research Association, which helps manage Arecibo, said they lost contact with their staff around 4 a.m.

“We are all waiting to hear from Arecibo, and we haven’t heard anything,” Farukhi said later Wednesday morning. “The website is down, the phone lines are down.”

On Tuesday, cameras on board the International Space Station captured dramatic video of Hurricane Maria as it swirled toward Puerto Rico — a churning mass of white clouds punctuated by a dark pinhole of an eye.
Tens of thousands of people in northern Puerto Rico are ordered to evacuate after floodwaters from Hurricane Maria damage the Guajataca Dam.