Hurricane Maria was downgraded to a tropical storm on Tuesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.
Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico last week as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, destroying hundreds of homes and knocking out power to the entire U.S. territory of 3.4 million people. The storm’s center passed near the U.S. Virgin Island of Saint Croix.
Here’s what you should know about Maria’s path.
People walk by building that was destroyed in the community La Perla in Old San Juan during Hurricane Maria in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sept. 25, 2017.
(AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Where is Maria today?
Maria is approximately 160 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. ET advisory Tuesday.
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The storm is traveling north at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds of about 70 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
What else should I know about the tropical storm?
A tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of North Carolina’s eastern coast all the way to the Virginia border.
“On the forecast track, the center of Maria will pass east of the coast of North Carolina during the next day or so,” forecasters said.
North Carolina on Monday isssued a mandatory evacuation for visitors to much of the Outer Banks.
Maria already ravaged the Caribbean nation of Dominica, leaving “widespread devastation,” according to Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
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“So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace,” Skerrit said.
The confirmed toll from Maria jumped to at least 49 on Monday, including 16 dead in Puerto Rico.
When Maria hit Puerto Rico, it was the third-strongest storm to make landfall in the U.S., based on its central pressure. It was even stronger than Irma when it hit the Florida Keys.
Saint Croix, largely spared the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Irma just weeks ago, this time experienced five hours of hurricane force winds, U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp said.
Residents in Saint Croix told Fox News that the storm left them without power and turned roads into mudslides. Barges were also destroyed in the storm, residents said, causing concern not only for Saint Croix, but for nearby Saint Thomas and Saint John, which had been receiving aid from the larger of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Fox News’ Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Zoe Szathmary and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
