Two days after devastating Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria was approaching the Turks and Caicos early Friday.

The Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of almost 125 mph was centered about 35 miles east-northeast of Grand Turk Island and moving northwest at 7 mph at 5 a.m., according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Maria was forecast to bring storm surges of up to 12 feet to the Turks and Caicos, as well as to the southeastern Bahamas, the NHC said, adding that a gradual weakening was expected for the next 48 hours.

The storm looked unlikely to hit the continental US but its storm swells were expected reach the southeastern coast from Friday, the NHC said.

“These swells are likely to cause dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents along the coast for the next several days,” it said.

With Post wires