Hurricane Maria to Reel in More Devastation in Irma’s Wake
As if hurricane Harvey and Irma weren’t enough, there’s another soon-to-be hurricane, named Maria, brewing in the Atlantic right now. Worse yet, this storm is beginning to look like it will affect the same islands that were affected by Irma’s path. Clearly, this hurricane season is far from over.
According to the National Hurricane Center weather models, this tropical depression is expected to strengthen into a hurricane once it hits the Leeward islands. Hurricane watches have effectively been issued for the areas of Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat and the completely Irma-wrecked island of Barbuda.
Although the storm is not predicted to strengthen into a cat five hurricane that Irma became, it may still bring destructive three to five-foot storm surges. What’s most stunning about this particular storm is that it’s predicted to bring a whopping eight inches of rain to the northern Leeward Islands, including the Virgin Islands, and 20 inches of rain on both the central and southern Leeward islands as well. This type of rainfall can result in massive mudslides and flooding, along with hampering current Irma recovery efforts to those islands.
To add insult to injury, another tropical storm, named Lee, is following right behind Maria. However, Lee is not expected to strengthen at the moment, unlike Maria. Hurricane Jose, on the other hand, is stated by the NHC to be only 500 miles from North Carolina’s coast, moving northward with 80 mph winds. Although that may not sound too strong, it can still bring dangerous surf and rip current conditions along the east coast. The Atlantic hurricane season is still very active and well, so pay close attention to these storms. In fact, the North Atlantic hurricane season isn’t officially over until November 30, with the peak period starting from late August through September.
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