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After decimating Dominica and Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria has now set its sights on the Dominican Republic.
The storm was downgraded from category five to category three over the last 24 hours, but it regained major hurricane status on Thursday morning.
Satellite view of Hurricane #Maria as it hammered Puerto Rico with powerful winds, storm surge & extreme rainfall: https://t.co/JdGdW2fs8m pic.twitter.com/hU61NJqmdB
— NASA (@NASA) September 21, 2017
Wind speeds are back up to around 115 mph (185 km/h) and the storm continues to move northwest at 9 mph (15 km/h).
While it won’t pass directly over the Dominican Republic, the eye of Maria will move past the country slightly offshore to the northeast.
That will still leave much of the storm passing over the east and north coasts of the Dominican Republic, including Punta Cana and Puerto Plata.
Maria will produce dangerous storm surges up to six feet, 20 inches of rain, life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
Beyond Thursday, the storm will take a turn to the north on Friday, but will still hit Turks and Caicos with significant force and produce some inclement weather for the Bahamas as well.
Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, recovery efforts will begin after Maria ripped through the nation on Wednesday.
Starting To receive images from Puerto Rico. My sister just sent me this. It’s from Utuado my hometown. #HurricaneMaria pic.twitter.com/STnSEI9yBm
— Antonio Paris (@AntonioParis) September 20, 2017
The entire country is without power and there is widespread damage, flooding and casualties.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump declared Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico a major disaster, making federal funding and assistance from the U.S. available.