Hurricane Maria Plows Into Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is braced for what is expected to be its fiercest storm in almost a century. 

Hurricane Maria made landfall Wednesday morning near the town of Yabucoa as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane packing winds of around 155mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, per USA Today

The strongest storm recorded in Puerto Rico before now was San Felipe in 1928, which had winds of 160mph, the AP reports. The last Category 4 hurricane to make a direct hit was in 1932. "This is going to be an extremely violent phenomenon," warned Gov. Ricardo Rossello. "We have not experienced an event of this magnitude in our modern history." The latest:

  • By the measure of central air pressure, Maria is now stronger than Hurricane Irma, which passed north of Puerto Rico, Mashable reports. In addition to damage caused by winds and a storm surge up to 9 feet high, the storm is expected to cause landslides and flash flooding.

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