Maria became a hurricane today as it headed toward the storm-staggered eastern Caribbean with 120 kilometre per hour winds, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
Storm warnings and watches went up in many of the Caribbean islands still reeling from the destructive passage of Hurricane Irma earlier this month.
As of 2100 GMT (2:30 am IST), Maria was a Category One hurricane, the lowest on the five point Saffir-Simpson scale, located 225 kilometres northeast of Barbados, the NHC said.
"On the forecast track, the centre of Maria will move across the Leeward Islands Monday night and then over the extreme northeastern Caribbean Sea on Tuesday," it said.
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