Seniors in the housing crisis
Check your travel medical
New orca rescue attempt
Alberta braces for drought
Premiers want co-operation
Joly urges de-escalation 
Trump jurors express anxiety
Iran fires at attack drones 
World's largest election 
Apple pulls apps from China
Oil and gas leases restricted
Indigo needs turnaround 
Warriors ready for Round 2
Kalamalka Bowl cancelled
Rockets live to fight on
Hilton teams up with Sia
Swift still 'can't forgive' Kim
Grimes to ‘cap the disarray’
UPDATE: 10:30 a.m.
Hurricane Maria grew into a Category 3 storm on Monday as it barrelled toward a potentially devastating collision with islands in the eastern Caribbean. Forecasters warned it was likely to grow even stronger.
The storm was on a path that would take it near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then on toward Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Maria could hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, said Ernesto Morales with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan.
"This storm promises to be catastrophic for our island," he said. "All of Puerto Rico will experience hurricane force winds."
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h late Monday morning. It was centred about 95 kilometres east of Martinique — and heading west-northwest at 17 km/h.
ORIGINAL: 6:45 a.m.
Hurricane Maria strengthened into a Category 2 storm on Monday and pushed toward the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean, as forecasters warned it was expected to become a major hurricane by early Tuesday.
The storm was on a path that would take it near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then on toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Maria could hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, said Ernesto Morales with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan.
"This storm promises to be catastrophic for our island," he said. "All of Puerto Rico will experience hurricane force winds."
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h Monday morning. It was centred about 135 kilometres east of Martinique — and heading west-northwest at 19 km/h.
Hurricane warnings were posted for Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Martinique and St. Lucia. A tropical storm warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten.
Forecasters said hurricane conditions should begin to affect parts of the Leeward Islands by Monday night, with storm surge raising water levels by up to two metres near the storm's centre. The storm was predicted to bring 15 to 30 centimetres of rain across the islands, with more in isolated areas.
On Wednesday, Maria was expected to be near or over Puerto Rico, which was spared the full brunt of Irma, although much of the island had its power knocked out. Nearly 70,000 people remain without power, and Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Monday warned of another widespread outage.
