Photographs of surfing on Cape Cod and New England . Hurricane Maria is a weakening tropical cyclone which struck Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale, Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane, and is currently moving away from the East Coast of the United States. It is also the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, the worst to strike Dominica in its recorded history and the worst in Puerto Rico since 1928. The thirteenth named storm, seventh hurricane, fourth major hurricane, and the second Category 5 hurricane of the unusually active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Maria caused catastrophic damage during its journey across the Northeastern Caribbean. It was the third major hurricane in a row to threaten the Leeward Islands with a direct strike or major impacts within two weeks, after Hurricane Irma caused catastrophic damage there and Jose, then a Category 4 hurricane, passed dangerously close just days after.