Will Hurricane Maria Hit Florida?

Tropical Storm Maria became a hurricane Sunday and appeared to be headed toward several Caribbean islands already devastated by Hurricane Irma.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s National Hurricane Center warns the storm will get worse. Maria was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane Monday morning.

“Maria is likely to strengthen significantly, and is expected to be at major hurricane intensity when it affects portions of the Leeward Islands over the next few days, bringing dangerous wind, storm surge and rainfall hazards,” the Center reported Monday morning.

Predictions for the storm expect it to hit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands this week and hit the Bahamas by next weekend. Currently, there is no imminent threat for Florida, already battered by Irma. The storm could also change course over the next few days. If Maria does hit the Bahamas it would bring Maria dangerously close to Miami and Florida’s east coast.

“Maria is likely to affect the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by mid week as a dangerous major hurricane. Hurricane watches have been issued for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands as well as for Puerto Rico,” said the Hurricane Center, adding that people should heed the advice of local officials.

Hurricane watches were also advised for St. Maarten/St. Martin, St. Barthelemy and Anguilla. Irma had already killed 44 people in the Caribbean when it hit earlier this month, according to CNN. Islands like St. Martin and Barbuda saw vicious damage to buildings and infrastructure, almost every building on Barbuda was damaged by Irma.

Puerto Rico missed the brunt of Irma, but the island still saw mass electricity outages. At one point close to 70 percent of houses on the island were without electricity.

Puerto Rico’s governor is on full alert.

“This has the potential of being a very big disaster,” Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said to the New York Times Sunday.

The storm could become a Category 4 by the time it hits Puerto Rico.

Early Monday morning Maria was about 100 miles east of Martinique and moving at a speed of around 12 mph.

“It is moving along very quickly, which is concerning,” AccuWeather meteorologist Dave Samuhel said to USA Today Monday. “They are going to have a direct hit from a hurricane. The question is how strong will it be.”

The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands is telling his residents to leave if they can.

“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 Gov. Kenneth Mapp in a statement.