Hurricane Maria seen strengthening into major hurricane in next two days

(Reuters) - A second powerful storm in as many weeks was bearing down on a string of battered Caribbean islands, with forecasters saying Maria would strengthen rapidly into a major hurricane as it ripped into the Leeward Islands on Monday night.

Maria’s strength was building as it approached the Lesser Antilles, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, estimating its winds near 90 miles per hour (145 kph).

“Maria is expected to become a major hurricane as it moves through the Leeward Islands,” the forecaster said, marked by “rapid strengthening” during the next 48 hours.

Maria is approaching the eastern Caribbean less than two weeks after Irma hammered the region before overrunning Florida.

That storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the Atlantic with winds up to 185 miles per hour (298 kph), killed at least 84 people, more than half of them in the Caribbean,