Hurricane: Maria destroys Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

Hurricane Maria continued to dump torrential rain on Puerto Rico Thursday morning as it regained strength and marched toward the Dominican Republic.

The Category 3 storm, with winds up to 115 mph, is expected to strengthen further as it travels over warm waters today toward Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas.

In Puerto Rico, electricity has been knocked out across the entire island, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló warned that restoring power to could take months. "[Maria is] the most devastating storm to hit the island this century, if not in modern history," said Rosselló.

Forecasters say Puerto Rico will see roughly two feet of rain by Friday. Meanwhile, storm surges are expected to raise water levels as much as six feet in the Dominican Republic, per the NYT.

President Trump signed a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico early Thursday morning, and said he plans to visit Puerto Rico soon. Gov. Rosselló has declared a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew from Wednesday to Saturday.

"The damage is very extensive," he told CNN Wednesday. "It is nothing short of a major disaster." A spokesman for the government of Dominica, Charles Jong, said Thursday that 14 people have died on the island

UCJ, UNILORIN.