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US threatened by 2 hurricanes; watches issued

Posted at 4:32 PM, Sep 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-17 18:20:56-04

Residents along the coast of New Jersey, New York and parts of New England were placed under a tropical storm watch Sunday as Hurricane Jose inches it way closer to the United States mainland. 

Meanwhile, a hurricane watch was issued for the US Virgin Islands as Maria became a hurricane Sunday evening. 

Hurricane Jose packed top sustained winds of 90 MPH as of early Sunday evening. The center of the storm is expected to stay over the Atlantic Ocean, but the storm's backside could scrape parts of the Northeast. The threat of wind, rain and deadly rip currents prompted the National Hurricane Center to place parts of the Northeast under a tropical storm watch. 

The potential for danger is even greater in the Caribbean. The US Virgin Islands, which took a devastating hit from Hurricane Irma, is under a hurricane watch ahead of Hurricane Maria. Maria packed top winds of 75 MPH as of early Sunday evening. 

The hurricane is expected to strengthen into a Category 3 storm by Tuesday. After passing near the Virgin Islands, Irma could make a direct impact on Puerto Rico.