Hurricane Maria is being blamed for at least one death on the French-speaking Caribbean nation of Guadeloupe on Monday, prior to making landfall in Dominica.
According to government officials, one person was killed when a tree fell and two others went missing in a shipwreck off the coast of the French territory.
No major damage in Martinique
The French government on Tuesday reported that there was no major damage on the island of Martinique, another French territory in the region, although 50-thousand homes lost power and 10-thousand are without water.
Two people sustained minor injuries.
Maria still a Category 5 storm
The Miami based National Hurricane Centre in its advisory issued at 5pm on Tuesday, said Maria which was downgraded to a Category 4 after making landfall in Dominica, has regained strength and is once again a powerful Category 5 system.
Maria is moving toward the west-northwest near 10 mph and this general motion is expected to continue through Wednesday night.
On the forecast track, the eye of Maria will move near or over the U. S. Virgin Islands late Tuesday cross Puerto Rico on Wednesday, and then pass just north of the coast of the Dominican Republic Wednesday night and Thursday.
The Hurricane Centre says 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. However, 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 from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles.
Hurricane watches
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Service of the Bahamas has issued a Hurricane Watch for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern Bahamas.
In Antigua and Barbuda the Tropical Storm Warning has been discontinued and a Hurricane warning has been discontinued for Dominica.
However, a hurricane warning remains in effect for St. Kitts Nevis, Montserrate, the US and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vieques.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Anguilla, Guadeloupe, West of Puerto Plata to the northern border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, Anguilla, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern Bahamas,
