Forecasters anticipate Hurricane Maria to get a Category 4 storm and that it will reach the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the middle of this week, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory on Monday, Sputnik reported.
"Maria is likely to affect the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by mid-week as a dangerous major hurricane," the advisory stated.
Earlier in the day, the NHC warned that Hurricane Maria is expected to move along the Leeward Islands in the afternoon with winds of 120 miles per hour.
Maria is the fourth strong hurricane recorded in the Atlantic basin this year that comes nearly a week after Hurricane Irma devastated numerous Caribbean islands and the southeast portion of the United States, and left more than 80 people dead.