Maria's strength was building as it approached the Lesser Antilles, the US National Hurricane Center said, estimating its winds at near 85 miles per hour (140 kph). "Maria is expected to become a major hurricane as it moves through the Leeward Islands," the forecaster said. Hurricane conditions were expected for Guadalupe, Dominica, Martinique and St Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat, and the hurricane center warned Puerto Rico to monitor the storm. The British Virgin Islands and St Martin, which was devastated by Hurricane Irma, were under a hurricane watch, as were the US Virgin Islands and Anguilla. More than 1,700 Residents of Barbuda, where Irma damaged nearly every building, braced for Maria on Antigua, now under a tropical storm watch, said Ronald Sanders, the country's ambassador to the United States.

Source: bd News24 September 18, 2017 03:45 UTC