8pm update. Could not be worse....
BULLETIN
Hurricane Maria Intermediate Advisory Number 15A
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL152017
800 PM AST Tue Sep 19 2017
...EYE OF CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE MARIA MOVING CLOSER TO ST CROIX IN
THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS...
...PREPARATIONS AGAINST LIFE-THREATENING STORM SURGE AND RAINFALL
FLOODING AND DESTRUCTIVE WINDS SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION...
...
DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK
------------------------------
At 800 PM AST (0000 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Maria was located
near latitude 17.0 North, longitude 64.2 West. Maria is moving
toward the west-northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h), and this general
motion is expected to continue through Wednesday night. On the
forecast track, the eye of Maria will move near or over St. Croix
in the U.S. Virgin Islands tonight, cross Puerto Rico on Wednesday,
and then pass just north of the coast of the Dominican Republic
Wednesday night and Thursday.
Reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft
indicate that maximum sustained winds are near 175 mph (280 km/h)
with higher gusts. Maria is a potentially catastrophic category
5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Some
fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or so, but
Maria is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous category 4 or 5
hurricane as it moves near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto
Rico. Slow weakening is expected after the hurricane emerges over
the Atlantic north of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles (55 km) from
the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140
miles (220 km).
The latest minimum central pressure reported by the Hurricane
Hunter aircraft is 909 mb (26.84 inches).
...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT5+shtml/192357.shtml?