Caribbean islands prepare for Hurricane Maria
Image copyright EPA Image caption The likely path of Hurricane Maria, as it nears devastated islands
Caribbean islands still coming to terms with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma are preparing themselves for a possible second major storm in two weeks.
Tropical Storm Maria was upgraded to a category one hurricane force on Sunday by the US National Hurricane Center.
The storm is currently following roughly the same path as Irma.
As a result, hurricane warnings have been issued for the US and British Virgin Islands, as well as Puerto Rico.
They were all hit by Hurricane Irma – the category five storm which left at least 37 people dead and caused billions of dollars worth of damage – earlier this month.
France has also issued a hurricane warning for its territory of Guadeloupe.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Maria had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km) at 21:00 GMT on Sunday and is expected to cross the Leeward Islands, that include the Virgin Islands, on Monday night.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionThe BBC’s correspondents in the region chart Irma’s path of destruction
Puerto Rico avoided a direct hit with Hurricane Irma, but in the British Virgin Islands entire neighbourhoods were flattened.
After a visit to the area, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described the damage as something “you see in images of from the First World War”.
Virgin boss Richard Branson, who has a home in the Virgin Islands, has been tweeting ahead of the storm’s predicted arrival, warning people to stay safe.
Skip Twitter post by @richardbranson
Another massive storm is underway and may do more damage to already wounded communities. Stay safe, seek shelter. https://t.co/46lXqOikgL pic.twitter.com/7AknOYCK7f
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) September 17, 2017 Report
End of Twitter post by @richardbranson
