Caribbean islands brace again as Hurricane Jose approaches
The Caribbean islands of Barbuda, St. Martin and Anguilla were facing the threat of another major storm Saturday as Hurricane Jose loomed — even as they took in the massive destruction wrought by deadly Hurricane Irma.
A Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph, Jose was expected to veer toward the northwestern Caribbean islands Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The residents of Barbuda, still reeling from Irma, were forced to evacuate Friday to their sister island of Antigua, picked up by fishing boats and private vessels ahead of the next storm.
Devastating impact of Hurricane Irma on the Caribbean
Just after 8 a.m. ET Saturday, Jose was 160 miles east-southeast of the chain of islands, also known as the Leeward Islands, the hurricane center said.
The government of Antigua discontinued its hurricane watch for the island, which remained under a tropical storm watch Saturday.
More from NBC News: Hurricane Irma Leaves Path of Destruction in Caribbean
It was still unclear if the storm would make landfall but hurricane-force winds would likely sweep over the islands, said Michael Palmer, lead meteorologist at The Weather Channel.
“The big takeaway for Jose is that it's threatening the same islands that have just been hit by Irma,” he said.
“While there may be nothing left to destroy … unfortunately after Irma, Jose could exacerbate the misery of the people who are still there,” Palmer added.
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The storm was forecasted to pass the French territory of Guadeloupe at around 7 a.m. E.T. Saturday about 90 miles from the coast, said Jacques Witkowski, director general for the French Civil Security and Crisis Management.
Jose is then expected to move north toward the islands of St. Barts and St. Martin. The two islands will be closer to the eye of the storm and can expect to be pummeled by winds of up to 93 mph and very heavy rain, Witkowski added.
Jose was classified as a hurricane earlier this week and quickly intensified to a Category 4 storm on Friday.
"The hurricane is likely to meander around in the Caribbean and southwest Atlantic for about a week," Palmer said.
"The question is whether it will stay between Bermuda and the Bahamas for the next few days or it could be picked up in a low-pressure system and sit between Bermuda and the U.S.," he added.
Hurricane Irma slammed into the easternmost islands of the Caribbean on Wednesday before moving on and lashing Haiti and the Dominican Republic before targeting Cuba and southern Florida.
The powerful hurricane left a path of destruction in its wake, tearing off roofs, damaging buildings and bringing fearsome storm surges across the Caribbean. At least 23 people were killed.
On the island of Barbuda, which has a population of some 1,400 people, 90 percent of the buildings were destroyed, officials said.
"If you know Barbuda before and what you saw, it's completely destroyed," Michael Joseph, president of the Red Cross in Antigua and Barbuda, who was in Barbuda this week, said Friday on MSNBC.
