Scare as Hurricane Maria grows to Category 2, nears battered Caribbean

Hurricane Maria strengthened into a Category 2 storm on Monday and pushed toward the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean, as forecasters warned it was expected to become a major hurricane by early Tuesday.

The storm was on a path that would take it near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then on toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Maria could hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, said Ernesto Morales with the US National Weather Service in San Juan.

Hurricane Irma batters French overseas territories

Hurricane Irma roared into the Caribbean with record force early Wednesday, its 185mph winds shaking homes and flooding buildings on a chain of small islands including French overseas territories.

The strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever recorded passed almost directly over the island of Barbuda, causing widespread flooding and downing trees.