Last Updated on August 28, 2019, 2:42 PM AST by Anthony Morris
The US territory of Puerto Rico on Wednesday has declared a state of emergency as it braces for a tropical storm churning through the Caribbean.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued hurricane watch and tropical storm warnings for Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Puerto Rico is still struggling to recover from those back-to-back hurricanes that killed about 3,000 people just months after the territory filed for bankruptcy to restructure $120 billion of debt and pension obligations.
Forecasters expect Tropical Storm Dorian to develop into a hurricane in the next 24 hours.
President Donald Trump has approved an emergency declaration.
The move authorises US federal agencies to provide assistance and co-ordinate disaster relief.
By Tuesday evening, the storm was 440km (270 miles) south-east of Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained winds of 50mph (85km/h), according to the NHC.
“We are better prepared than when Hurricane Maria attacked our island,” Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez said during a televised news conference.
According to the NHC’s latest projections, the storm could make landfall in the US state of Florida late on Friday night or early Saturday morning.
Tropical storm warnings have been lifted for St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Puerto Rico is still vulnerable after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island in September 2017, killing an estimated 2,975 people and causing a humanitarian crisis.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
