Devastation on the U.S. Virgin Islands from Hurricane Irma.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Maria was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday, and it is about 125 miles east-northeast of Barbados, headed toward the eastern Caribbean at 15 miles per hour.

"Maria has strengthened to a hurricane and could be near major hurricane intensity when it affects portions of the Leeward Islands over the next few days, bringing dangerous wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards," the National Hurricane Center said. There is now a hurricane warning in Martinique, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, and Guadeloupe.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.