A hurricane watch was issued for Puerto Rico early Monday as Maria left residents of Caribbean islands still reeling from Irma racing to prepare for yet another potentially powerful storm.
Maria was about 100 miles east of Martinique at 5 a.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center said. It added that Maria could develop into a major hurricane by Monday night or early Tuesday.
It was projected to subsequently take aim at Puerto Rico’s southern coast.
NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins warned that Maria could be “catastrophic” for Puerto Rico, which was largely spared by Irma. That storm left around 1 million people on the island without power but it passed to about 50 miles to the north and only caused wave damage.
“There’s an excellent chance that Maria will be a major hurricane very close to Puerto Rico in 48 hours,” he said early Monday, adding that it could also hit the Irma-devastated U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
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Puerto Rico hasn’t been hit by a Category 4 or 5 hurricane since 1928, Karins added.
Hurricane watches and warnings were in effect for a string of islands reaching from Dominica to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
Tropical storm warnings and watches were also issued for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Martinique, and Antigua and Barbuda, among others.
“Maria is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 6 to 12 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches across the central and southern Leeward Islands, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, through Wednesday night,” the hurricane center warned.
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said at a news conference Sunday that the storm could bring more rain, wind and water than Irma, which killed three people there.
Rosselló said 46,000 people — or about 85 percent of customers in the metropolitan area of the capital, San Juan — remained without electricity. Another 6,000 were still without drinking water.
A ship from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was expected to arrive early Tuesday with more than 1 million gallons of water and 111 generators, and the island was ready to house 67,000 people across 450 shelters, Rosselló said.
“The priority is to be prepared and save lives,” he said.
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In the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Irma killed four people and left what an elected official there described as “apocalyptic” damage, the government pleaded with residents on Sunday to abandon already-damaged properties.
“It’s critical people make the tough decision to walk away from their property and take along what is most important — their loved ones,” said a statement citing the governor, Kenneth Mapp.
And in the British Virgin Islands, where Irma’s death toll also reached four, Gov. Augustus Jaspert said Maria could bring 6 to 20 inches of rain — and turn Irma’s detritus into projectiles with its powerful winds.
Jaspert, who urged residents to secure their properties, he pleaded with them to obey a still-in-effect curfew and stock up with three days of water and food.
“May you continue to be resilient and united as we work together to ensure we’re prepared for the storm and ready to continue the rebuilding efforts once it has passed,” he said.