Hurricane Maria strengthens ahead of expected turn to the north far off U.S. coast

After devastating much of Puerto Rico, a briefly weakened Hurricane Maria regained strength Thursday as it swept into warm waters off the Dominican Republic head but is now expected to turn north well off the U.S. coast in the Atlantic. In the meantime, Maria was raking the northern tier of the Dominican Republic and bearing down on the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas, which were under a hurricane warning. At 8 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said Maria — which had weakened to a Category 2 storm — had strengthened to a Category 3 again and was 95 miles north-northwest of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It was packing winds of 115 mph and moving northwest at 9 mph. The NHC said hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 60 miles from the center. In the center of the storm: What it was like to ride out Hurricane Maria The storm has left at least 10 dead across the Caribbean, including seven in Dominica and two in Guadeloupe. Puerto Rico’s governor told CNN that one man died after being hit by flying debris on the island.

The powerful storm knocked out power to the entire island of more than 3 million people, and the executive director of emergency management on the island said telecommunications had "collapsed."

While Hurricane Irma sideswiped Puerto Rico on Sept. 6, leaving more than 1 million people without power, Maria blew out windows at some hospitals and police stations, turned some streets into roaring rivers and destroyed hundreds of homes across the island. Some 80 percent of houses were swept away by a storm surge of more than 4 feet in one small fishing community near San Juan Bay.

"God is with us," Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló tweeted as pummeling winds and horizontal rain paralyzed the island and turned streets into rivers. "We are stronger than any hurricane. Together we will rise."

Maria's slow grind over Puerto Rico sapped it of power, but its trek over warm, open waters boosted the storm back to a Category 3 Thursday. It was expected to strengthen even more as it swept to the northwest.

Tropical storm Jose, which has moved far to the north off the U.S. coast, is largely responsible for Maria's expected northward turn, says Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. By weakening a high pressure ridge over the eastern U.S.and much of the Atlantic, Jose opened a path for Maria's expected critical northward turn late this week and into the weekend.

At 8 a.m., Jose's 60-mph sustained winds was driving rip currents and rough surf along much of the East Coast, a pattern that should continue for a few days. The storm was stationary, spinning about 150 miles southeast of Nantucket, Mass.

The hurricane center said a tropical storm warning was in effect for Cape Cod, Block Island, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.