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Hurricane Maria bears down on battered Caribbean
 [DAWN] Hurricane Maria strengthened on Monday as it blasted towards the eastern Caribbean, a region already struggling to recover from mega-storm Irma.The United States (US) National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Maria had intensified to a Category Two storm as it approached the French territory of Guadeloupe, the base for relief operations for several islands hit by Irma this month. Guadeloupe was on "red alert" on Monday, with schools, businesses and government offices ordered to close, as was neighbouring Martinique, which is also part of La Belle France. Each has a population of around 400,000 people. The hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometres an hour according to the NHC, is expected to hit Guadeloupe at around midday local time. It was expected to strengthen further into a Category Three "major hurricane", the NHC warned. Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and the British island of Montserrat are also on alert. Posted by: Fred 2017-09-19 |
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