Here’s Everything That’s Happened So Far with Hurricane Maria, and What’s to Come

Well, if you’ve been paying attention to the news, you know that 2017 has certainly had a hurricane season to remember.

A couple of weeks ago, Harvey tore through Houston, leaving much of the city underwater. Irma came not long after that, and quickly became one of the most devastating hurricanes in Atlantic history.

Now, it’s Maria’s turn. In the past couple of days, Maria went from a Category 3 hurricane to a Category 5.

The storm is currently making its way through the Caribbean, and it’s not looking good.

Maria’s Path

Unlike Irma, Maria began its path south of the Caribbean islands, rather than to the east.

This means that, instead of moving to the west, Maria will make its way north. With that in mind, many more islands in the Caribbean could be affected.

Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and various others are in its path. There’s even a possibility that Haiti could experience parts of the storm.

Unfortunately, the island of Dominica has already been hit by Maria, and it caused widespread devastation.

Destruction

Maria has battered Dominica and is currently making its way to Guadeloupe.

While there aren’t many photos of what has happened in Dominica so far, the country’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, wrote a heartbreaking note to the world.

Skerrit says that that the island has “lost all what money can buy and replace,” and that he’s worried to wake up to “news of serious physical injury and possible death.”

The Prime Minister continued by saying that the country will be getting to work now that the hurricane has passed, but that they will need help from others in order to get back on their feet.

Could Maria Affect the US?

When Irma tore through the Caribbean islands, citizens of Florida were already beginning to evacuate, knowing that the storm was coming for the United States next.

Fortunately, as you look at the projected path of Maria, it looks as though this storm will miss the U.S. entirely.

This map shows the possible path of Maria, and you can see it turning North much earlier than Irma did. Once Maria passes the Dominican Republic, it will likely start slowing down.

Then, after turning slightly toward the East, it should slow down even further as it moves up the Atlantic Ocean.

Photo Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce