Hurricane Maria, Category 3, will strengthen in the coming hours as it moves away from the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic with winds of 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) .
This cyclone, which left one dead in Puerto Rico, moves 9 miles (15 kilometers) per hour in a northwesterly direction, which gradually distances it from Hispaniola Island and routes it to the Turks and Caicos archipelago and later to the east of Bahamas.
In its 8:00 local time bulletin (12.00 GMT), NHC meteorologists predict that Maria will register a “certain strengthening” over the next few hours.
This hurricane was about 95 miles (150 kilometers) north of the touristy Dominican city of Punta Cana, and about 190 miles (305 kilometers) southeast of Grand Turk Island.
Experts point out that hurricane-force winds extend from the center of the cyclone to 60 miles (95 kilometers) and tropical storm winds, up to 73 mph (118 km / h), sit up to 150 miles (240 kilometers).
The NHC said that in Punta Cana there were wind gusts of 56 miles (91 kilometers) per hour.
While in Puerto Rico, where land hit this Wednesday as Category 4 hurricane and winds of 155 miles (250 km) per hour, the effects of this phenomenon continue to be felt in the form of rainfall, in the Dominican Republic precipitation can be between 8 and 16 inches (203 and 406 millimeters).
But the NHC warns that in isolated areas these rains can reach 20 inches (508 millimeters), which could cause floods and landslides.
On the other hand, the level of the sea in Puerto Rico, they point out, should continue to recede in the next few hours.
Meanwhile, in the Dominican Republic, there will be a “dangerous” cyclonic tide that, along with “large and destructive” waves, will raise sea levels up to 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) in the warning zone of hurricanes in the country, from Cabo Engano to Puerto Plata.
In other areas of the north coast of Hispaniola, including Haiti, sea level rise may be up to 3 feet (1 meter), they said.
In Puerto Rico, Maria left the vast majority of the island without electricity and caused several rivers to overflow and left at least one dead, while the number of deaths on the island of Guadalupe amounts to at least 14 and in Guadeloupe reported two more deaths because of the cyclone.
