A line of customers waits for the arrival of generators at a power sports store in San Juan , Puerto Rico, as Hurricane Maria approaches. (Rocardo Arduengo, AFP)
Miami - Hurricane Maria, after pounding Dominica with high winds, has weakened slightly to a still extremely dangerous Category 4 major storm.
The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said early on Tuesday that top sustained winds had fallen slightly to 250km/h.
It says high winds are now beginning to diminish over Dominica and that the eye of Maria is now about 70km west-northwest of the small Caribbean island. The storm is moving west-northwest at 15km/h on a course that threatens other areas of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Jose continues to move north over the Atlantic, churning up dangerous surf and rip currents along the East Coast of the United States.
