颶風瑪利亞襲擊維京羣島和波多黎各

Hurricane Maria pounded the U.S. Virgin Islands late Tuesday and into Wednesday on its way to Puerto Rico.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the outer edge of the storm's eye was lashing the island of St. Croix as Maria carried maximum sustained winds of about 280 kilometers per hour and rains that forecasters say will cause life-threatening flash floods and landslides.

The NHC said the storm is "potentially catastrophic" and is expected to remain a dangerous Category 4 or 5 hurricane as its center goes directly across Puerto Rico by Wednesday night.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said "major damage is inevitable" in the U.S. territory and that officials had set up 500 shelters.

U.S. President Donald Trump has issued state-of-emergency declarations for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and authorized the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all relief efforts.颶風瑪利亞星期二晚間至星期三凌晨襲擊美屬維京羣島，然後向波多黎各移動。

美國國家颶風中心說，風暴風眼的外緣橫掃聖克羅伊島，瑪利亞的最高持續風速約每小時280公里。氣象預報說，風暴帶來的暴雨會引發危及生命的洪水和山體滑坡。

美國國家颶風中心說，瑪利亞“可能是災難性的”，估計會保持在危險的四到五級颶風的水平，星期三晚間颶風中心將直擊波多黎各。

波多黎各總督羅賽羅說，“重大破壞難以避免”，政府官員已經設立了500個庇護所。

美國總統川普已經宣佈波多黎各和美屬維京羣島進入緊急狀態，並授權國土安全部和聯邦緊急事務管理署協調救災。