Hurricane Maria graduated rapidly and unexpectedly to a Category 5 hurricane late on Sept. 18, though this was not initially expected to happen until Wednesday.

Having reached sustained winds of 160 mph, Hurricane Maria plowed through the Caribbean Island of Dominica late last night and is preidicted to make landfall over Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands this evening.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has urged that all preparations in these areas “should be rushed to completion,” and that she is “potentially catastrophic.” Hurricane Maria continues to move slowly and is expected to remain at a Category 4 or 5 over the next 48 hours.

It is currently undetermined if the East Coast of the United States will be affected.

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