Hurricane Maria Threatens Weary Caribbean With More Destruction

Soldiers from the 602nd Area Support Medical Company secure a portable tent as they break down a field hospital outside the Schneider Regional Medical Center while preparing to evacuate their unit in advance of Hurricane Maria, in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Sept. 17, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

A second powerful storm in as many weeks was bearing down on a string of battered Caribbean islands, with forecasters saying that Maria had strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday and would intensify before hitting the Leeward Islands on Monday night.

Maria was about 275 miles east-southeast of the Leeward island of Dominica with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph at 5 p.m. ET, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.