Hurricane Maria Devastates Caribbean

Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths.^¹ It is the deadliest and costliest hurricane to strike the archipelago and island of Puerto Rico, and is the deadliest hurricane to strike the country of Dominica and the territory of the U.S.^¹ Virgin Islands. The most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017, Maria was the thirteenth named storm, eighth consecutive hurricane, fourth major hurricane, second Category 5 hurricane, and deadliest storm of the extremely active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.^¹ With over 3,000 deaths and a minimum central pressure of 908 millibars (26.8 inHg), Maria was the twelfth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, respectively.^¹ Total monetary losses are estimated at upwards of $91.61 billion, almost all of which came from Puerto Rico, ranking it as the fourth-costliest tropical cyclone on record.^¹