Hurricane Maria grows, threatens storm-battered Caribbean

Men remove boats from the water ahead of Hurricane Maria in the Galbas area of Sainte-Anne on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, early Monday, Sept. 18, 2017. Hurricane Maria grew into a Category 3 storm on Monday as it barreled toward a potentially devastating collision with islands in the eastern Caribbean. (AP Photo/Dominique Chomereau-Lamotte)
Men remove boats from the water ahead of Hurricane Maria in the Galbas area of Sainte-Anne on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, early Monday, Sept. 18, 2017. Hurricane Maria grew into a Category 3 storm on Monday as it barreled toward a potentially devastating collision with islands in the eastern Caribbean. (AP Photo/Dominique Chomereau-Lamotte)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Hurricane Maria grew into an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm Monday as it barreled toward a potentially devastating collision with islands in the eastern Caribbean, and forecasters warned it was likely to become even stronger.

The storm's eye was expected to pass near Dominica later in the day on a path that would take it near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then toward a possible direct strike on Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

"This storm promises to be catastrophic for our island," said Ernesto Morales with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan. "All of Puerto Rico will experience hurricane force winds."

The U.S. territory imposed rationing of basic supplies including water, milk, baby formula, canned food, batteries and flashlights.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph in late afternoon. It was centered about 35 miles northeast of Martinique and 45 miles east-southeast of Dominica, and was heading west-northwest at 9 mph.

The center said Maria would likely continue to gain strength for the next 24 hours or longer and could hit Category 5 status with winds reaching 155 mph. "Maria is developing the dreaded pinhole eye," it noted.

That's a sign of an extremely strong hurricane likely to get even mightier, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. Just like when a spinning ice skater brings in their arms and rotates faster, a smaller, tighter eye shows the same physics, he said.

Maria's eye shrank to a small 10 miles in diameter.

"You just don't see those in weaker hurricanes," McNoldy said. "It's cranking up the angular momentum."

Hurricane warnings were posted for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat and Martinique. A tropical storm warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Lucia and Anguilla.

Forecasters said storm surge could raise water levels by 6 to 9 feet near the storm's center. The storm was predicted to bring 10 to 15 inches of rain across the islands, with more in isolated areas.

Officials in Dominica closed schools and government offices and urged people to evacuate and seek shelters.

"We should treat the approaching hurricane very, very seriously," Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said. "This much water in Dominica is dangerous."

The small, mountainous island could be in trouble even if spared the storm's strongest winds. In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika unleashed flooding and landslides that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 370 homes.

Officials in Guadeloupe said the French island would experience extremely heavy flooding starting in the afternoon and warned that many communities could be submerged overnight.