Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm

Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Severe Weather Team 2 is tracking the storm's destructive path on Channel 2 Action News.

While the storm's maximum sustained winds dropped to 150 mph not long after it made landfall, it still caused severe damage to the U.S. territory. A Category 4 storm had not hit the island since 1932.

"This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Karen Minton warned as the storm moved through Wednesday morning.

The storm caused extreme flooding in some parts of the island.

Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan said Maria weakened to a Category 3 storm Wednesday afternoon but remains a dangerous storm.

Just before 5 p.m., it weakened again to a Category 2 storm with 110 mph winds.

Rainfall totals for Puerto Rico were projected at 12 to 18 inches, with as much as 25 inches in isolated areas.

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Maria crossed Puerto Rico Wednesday, and is headed for the Dominican Republic, where conditions will deteriorate Wednesday evening as Maria passes just north of Punta Cana around midnight.

Maria started on a similar path to Hurricane Irma, but that will change soon. Forecast models currently show the storm traveling east of Florida and the Carolinas.

The storm did severe damage to multiple Caribbean islands over the past 36 hours, including Dominica, Guadeloupe and the Virgin Islands.

The storm is blamed for at least 9 deaths across teh Caribbean. That number is expected to rise.

There was widespread damage across Dominica, as could be seen in the first aerial video from the tiny island taken Tuesday.

Cox Media Group