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Woman wins $133M Powerball jackpot after playing the same numbers for 30 years. 17 - brother 18 - own birthday 24 for her sister 25 for her ex-husband 31 for her daughter.

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One Colorado woman's persistence finally paid off after 30 years of playing the exact same lottery numbers -- she won a $133.2 million Powerball jackpot.

Judy Finchum, 67, purchased a winning Advance Play ticket on Saturday, her dog Tillie's birthday, and woke up stunned to see that she had all five out of the winning numbers, including the Powerball.

After seeing the numbers on her phone and checking her ticket, Finchum ran into the bedroom and woke up her husband Mack to tell him.

"We stumbled down the hallway together and I said, 'Now look at these numbers and look at the numbers on the ticket and are those the same?'" Finchum recalled. "My husband was Mr. calm and says, 'Yes they are.'"

At a press conference on Tuesday, when Finchum was presented with a large check for $133.2 million, she explained the history behind her winning numbers.

She said that her tried and true selections wer comprised of "birthday numbers." Number 17 for her late brother, her own birth date, 18, 24 for her sister Star, 25 for her ex-husband's and 31 for her daughter.

Finchum said she is still imagining how the money could change her life.

"It's hard to fathom," she said.

One thing she knows for sure is that she's officially retired, "as of about 6 o'clock on Sunday morning."

Mack told everyone that "his wife is the most generous person; she's my greatest gift."

When asked about their plans, they both agreed it will go to help more than just their own families, citing those suffering in Houston and Florida.

"It's going to bless the men and women and the people ravaged by the hurricanes," Mack said.

The ticket was sold in the town of Grand Junction at a store called Lucky Me on Patterson Road.

Finchum said she will take a cash lump sum payment rather than annual payments, which means she will receive $84,607,397 after taxes.

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Woman wins $133M Powerball jackpot after 30 years playing the same numbers

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One Colorado woman's persistence finally paid off after 30 years of playing the exact same lottery numbers -- she won a $133.2 million Powerball jackpot. Judy Finchum, 67, purchased a winning Advance Play ticket on Saturday, her dog Tillie's birthday, and woke up stunned to see that she had all...

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The strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years left the entire island without electricity, making it difficult to assess just how much damage was caused by Maria's unrelenting onslaught.

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Hurricane Maria regained major hurricane status early Thursday, strengthening to a Category 3 storm, as it left a devastated -- and completely powerless -- Puerto Rico in its wake and at least 15 dead people in Dominica.

The prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, said at least 15 people died after the storm hit the island and 20 people were missing. Maria is also deemed responsible two deaths on Guadeloupe and one in Puerto Rico.

Skerrit cried as he spoke to a reporter with ABS TV/Radio on the nearby island of Antigua, the Associated Press reported.

He said it was a miracle the death toll was not in the hundreds, adding Dominica "is going to need all the help the world has to offer."

The strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years left the entire island without electricity, making it difficult to assess just how much damage was caused by Maria's unrelenting onslaught.

The storm, with winds of 120 mph and traveling northwest at 9 mph, is now passing the northeastern Dominican Republic and headed for the Turks and Caicos. It was centered about 135 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island as of Thursday morning.

"Once we're able to go outside, we're going to find our island destroyed," said Abner Gomez, Puerto Rico's emergency management director. "The information we have received is not encouraging. It's a system that has destroyed everything in its path."

Uprooted trees and widespread flooding blocked many highways and streets across the island, creating a maze that forced drivers to go against traffic and past police cars that used loudspeakers to warn people they must respect an overnight curfew imposed by the governor to ensure everyone's safety.

Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm, weakened to a Category 2 as it tore through the island and then regained strength as it came close to the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

"The hit on Puerto Rico has been devastating with over 2 feet of rain, incredible storm surge and the whole island without power," Fox News Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean said Thursday. "It is the worst disaster Puerto Rico has experienced in a generation. We have yet to see the devastation they are waking up to."

"It is the worst disaster Puerto Rico has experienced in a generation. We have yet to see the devastation they are waking up to."
- Fox News Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean

The hurricane was still dumping rain early Thursday in Puerto Rico, where crumbled red roof tiles lay scattered across many roads, and curious residents ducked under dozens of black power lines still swaying in heavy winds.

More than 11,000 people - and more than 580 pets - were in shelters, authorities said.

In the island's capital of San Juan, eucalyptus trees fell nearly every other block over a main road dotted with popular bars, restaurants, and coffee shops, some of which were damaged.

Outside a nearby apartment building, 40-year-old tourism company operator Adrian Pacheco told the AP how he spent eight hours in a stairwell huddled with 100 other residents when the hurricane ripped the storm shutters off his building and decimated three balconies.

"I think people didn't expect the storm to reach the point that it did," he said. "Since Irma never really happened, they thought Maria would be the same."

Officials are unable to say when electricity would return on the island, which was already crumbling amid lack of maintenance and a dwindling staff even before the Hurricanes Irma and Maria knocked out power. Many now believe it will take weeks, if not months, to restore power.

President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico early Thursday after Maria slammed into the U.S. territory. The declaration makes federal funding available to Puerto Ricans affected by the storm.

On the northern part of the island, the mayor of one coastal town said he received reports of one area losing 80 percent of the homes in the area.

Catano Mayor Felix Delgado said the small fishing community near the San Juan Bay was inundated with more than 4 feet of storm surge from Maria.

Delgado told ElNuevoDía.com "this generation is going to play to build the new Catano."

As of now, Maria poses no immediate threat to the U.S. mainland. The long-range forecast showed the storm out in the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of miles off the Georgia-South Carolina coast by Monday morning.

"Residents across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coast will still need to monitor Maria's path, although it looks likely the storm will stay offshore," Dean said Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Hurricane Maria leaves Puerto Rico powerless, at least 15 dead on Dominica

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Hurricane Maria regained major hurricane status early Thursday, strengthening to a Category 3 storm, as it left a devastated -- and completely powerless -- Puerto Rico in its wake and at least 15 dead people in Dominica. The prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, said at least 15 people died after the storm hit the island and 20 people were missing.

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A 4-year-old Florida girl has died after accidentally pulling the trigger of a gun when she reached into her grandma's purse to get candy.

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A 4-year-old Florida girl has died after accidentally pulling the trigger of a gun when she reached into her grandmother's purse for candy.

Yanelly "Nelly" Zoller died Sept. 14 at the Tampa home of her grandparents, Michael and Christie Zoller.

Her 22-year-old father Shane Zoller told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday that she just wanted candy.

Tampa police told the newspaper they are investigating the case, but have no reason to doubt Zoller's story.

Shane Zoller says he was in high school when he became a father, and if his parents had not helped with Nelly, he would have had to drop out of school. He says Nelly was "attached to her nana's hip" and loved staying at her grandparents' house.

Zoller shared custody with the girl's mother.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.

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Girl, 4, shoots self while grabbing candy in grandma's purse

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A 4-year-old Florida girl has died after accidentally pulling the trigger of a gun when she reached into her grandmother's purse for candy. Yanelly "Nelly" Zoller died Sept. 14 at the Tampa home of her grandparents, Michael and Christie Zoller. Her 22-year-old father Shane Zoller told...

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two employees of navy hospital fired from patient care after posting videos and pictures cursing and flipping off the babies on social media.

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navy removes worker who flipped off baby - cnn video

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Navy removes worker who flipped off baby - CNN Video

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Two employees at Naval Hospital Jacksonville have been removed from patient care duties after images of them mistreating babies went viral.

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A U.S. Navy worker flips off new born baby and makes the baby dance as they takes a video and posts it on snapchat

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navy removes worker who flipped off baby - cnn video

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Navy removes worker who flipped off baby - CNN Video

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Two employees at Naval Hospital Jacksonville have been removed from patient care duties after images of them mistreating babies went viral.

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Hurricane Maria

rips Caribbean, leaves Puerto Rico powerless for months

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Story highlights

The large eye of Hurricane Maria lumbered toward the popular vacation islands of Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas on Thursday, leaving Puerto Rico and its Caribbean neighbors battered, drenched and largely without power.

The core of Maria, a major hurricane, is forecast to pass just east of the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas early Friday.

The Category 3 storm has sustained winds of 125 mph, the US National Hurricane Center said.

In just 24 hours, Maria dumped almost 40 inches of rain on parts of Puerto Rico, where millions of residents won't have power for months. Most of the island saw more than a foot of precipitation as Maria turned streets into raging rivers.

The storm brought down trees and poured up to 6 inches of rain on the Dominican Republic as the eyewall passed to the east.

Many Puerto Ricans spent Thursday cleaning up. A man in the La Perla area of San Juan told CNN he still had his faith. "It's incredible ... but I believe in God, and we can do anything with the help of God," Roberto Caballero said.

CNN teams in San Juan saw that some shops were open. All had long lines.

Maria has brought misery to many Caribbean Islands and death to Dominica, where at least 15 people were killed when the storm passed earlier this week, according to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

Here's the latest on Maria's destruction, and what's next.

Dominican Republic gets thrashed

Although Maria is drifting away from the Dominican Republic, parts of the country are still seeing hurricane conditions, the National Hurricane Center said.

"A dangerous storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves will raise water levels by as much as 4 to 6 feet" in parts of the Dominican Republic - where rivers were still swollen from Hurricane Irma, forecasters said. Haiti, on the western part of the island, could see a storm surge of up to 3 feet.

Maria will likely strengthen as it moves across warm water, endangering low-lying islands with enormous storm surges. And the Turks and Caicos could see as much as 20 inches of rainfall, the hurricane center said.

Maria could affect the US East Coast by early next week with high surf, dangerous rip currents and windy conditions. Depending on its path, the system could also bring rain from the mid-Atlantic to Massachusetts, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.

Puerto Rico: Power system 'basically ... destroyed'

Puerto Ricans might not get power back for four to six months, said Ricardo Ramos, the CEO of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

"The system has been basically destroyed," Ramos told CNN. He said hospitals and water systems will get priority power restoration.

The island's largest airport, the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, will be open to commercial traffic Friday, according to Aerostar Puerto Rico, which manages the airport near San Juan.

Emergency generators will power the limited operations, and there will be no air conditioning, the operator said.

President Donald Trump told reporters that he will visit Puerto Rico, a US commonwealth, but did not detail when.

"Puerto Rico was absolutely obliterated," Trump said. "We'll work with the governor and the people of Puerto Rico."

Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Maria is the "most devastating storm to hit the island this century, if not in modern history."

Puerto Rico has been through a long recession and is deeply in debt. Before the storm hit, the state-owned power grid was "a little bit old, mishandled and weak," the governor said.

Retired Army veteran Manuel Torres called Maria's devastation the worst he'd ever seen. His mother's house in La Perla, an oceanfront community in old San Juan, was destroyed.

Emerging after the storm had passed, Torres found the three-story home reduced to two stories.

Angela Magaña, a UFC fighter who lives in the area, said neighbors were helping each other.

"We need cleanup, water, food, and generators," she told CNN. "There are a lot of old people here who are going without necessities. We need to rebuild and restructure, and we need prayers. Any kind of help we can get because it's a mess right now."

This was taken an hour after #HurricaneMaria passed over Puerto Rico. Now there are flash flood warnings across the entire island. @CNN pic.twitter.com/CAHMMTNgzF
- JAIDE (@Jaide_GarciaCNN) September 21, 2017

Dozens of families were rescued from flooding Thursday in Levittown, near the capital city of San Juan, a spokeswoman for the Puerto Rican governor tweeted. The Puerto Rican National Guard was still searching for others in need of rescue, she said.

Cassidy Spooner, a tourist from Jacksonville, Florida, came upon animals as she was checking out the damage in Luquillo on Thursday.

"The dog was looking for food. I saw her find raw bacon in the street and eat it," she said. Spooner told CNN she saw kittens and cats near a house nearby that appeared to have cat food, but the felines looked skinny and scared.

Neighbors were trying to take care of the animals, she said.

Army Reserve Brig. Gen Dustin Shultz told "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon" there are 4,500 reserve soldiers on Puerto Rico to assist the National Guard.

Dominica: 'The need is great'

Prime Minister Skerrit said Dominica was almost completely devastated.

"First of all, every village in Dominica, every street in Dominica ... is affected by the hurricane," he told ABS TV/Radio, based in Antigua and Barbuda. "We have no running water, no electricity, no power, we have very limited communication services." Skerrit's own home was demolished in the storm.

There is desperate need for food, water and medical supplies on the island of 73,000 residents, officials said.

"The need is great," said Philmore Mullin, head of Antigua and Barbuda's National Office of Disaster Services. "We know of casualties, but not in detail. We've heard of many missing, but we just don't know much at the moment."

Skerrit is "homeless" and "bunking up in an area called St. Aroment," government spokesman Charles Jong said.

A flight Wednesday over Dominica showed thousands of trees had been snapped and were strewn across the landscape, leaving the island stripped of vegetation.

CNN also saw evidence of dozens of mudslides, although not in population centers. The usually blue-green sea in many places had turned a muddy brown.

US Virgin Islands: 24-hour curfew in place

Maria also annihilated homes on the US Virgin Islands. On Thursday, Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp announced a 24-hour curfew, effective immediately, on the four main US Virgin Islands - St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island.

"Your presence on the roads during the curfew hours will only hamper clean-up efforts and could delay the distribution of critically needed supplies," Mapp said.

One of the hardest hit islands was St. Croix. Maria didn't just obliterate homes, it knocked out vital communication lines, resident Murillo Melo said.

"Here on the island and on the mainland, people are trying to get in contact with friends and relatives," he said. "People are desperate to get some news from their friends and relatives."

Instagram post not found.

Post has been removed or is no longer public.

Trump declared the US Virgin Islands a major disaster area and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts.

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Puerto Rico cleans up as Turks and Caicos brace for Hurricane Maria | CNN

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The large eye of Hurricane Maria lumbered toward the popular vacation islands of Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas on Thursday, leaving Puerto Rico and its Caribbean neighbors battered, drenched and largely without power. The core of Maria, a major hurricane, is forecast to pass just east of the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas early Friday.

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This was gods blessings and he turned the money in.

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Teen returns wallet filled with $1,500 cash - CNN Video

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Security footage shows 18-year-old Tyler Opdyke returning a wallet he found filled with $1,500.

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6th man arrested in connection with London Underground attack.

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London Metropolitan police arrested two more men early Wednesday in connection with last week's bombing of a subway car in Parsons Green.

Police said they arrested two men, ages 48 and 30, in Newport, Wales just after 5 a.m. local time. The men were arrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act after officers executed a warrant at the address where the two men were located.

A 25-year-old man was arrested Tuesday evening, also in Newport, at a different address.

The total number of people held in the attack is now five. None of the five men have been identified by police.

A 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday in Hounslow, a borough in west London, by detectives with the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command and earlier Saturday police had evacuated a house in a London suburb as well as part of the Port of Dover after arresting an 18-year-old man that morning in the southeastern coastal city in connection with the attack, police said.

Thirty people were injured in the attack on Sept. 15 at the Parsons Green subway stop in London. Police said an apparent bucket bomb exploded during the Friday morning commute, injuring 30 people. All of the injuries were considered minor. Authorities said the bomb did not fully explode, likely limiting the number of casualties.

"This continues to be a fast-moving investigation," said Dean Haydon, head of the Met Counter Terrorism Command, in a press release. "A significant amount of activity has taken place since the attack on Friday. We now have five men in custody and searches are continuing at four addresses. Detectives are carrying out extensive inquiries to determine the full facts behind the attack."

Police said the search at the Hounslow property had concluded, but two addresses in Surrey and two in Newport were still being combed over by authorities.

The terror threat was lowered to severe from critical over the weekend, but police warned on Wednesday that the public should remain vigilant and report any unusual activity.

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Two more arrested in connection with London subway terror attack

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London Metropolitan police arrested two more men early Wednesday in connection with last week's bombing of a subway car in Parsons Green. Police said they arrested two men, ages 48 and 30, in Newport, Wales just after 5 a.m. local time. The men were arrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act...

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mexicos earth quake a School fell, it did maximum damage The 7.1 earthquake that jolted  c part of the building to fold in on itself sandwiching and collapsing, classroom onto classroom.
rescuers found the bodies of 21 kids and 4 adults.  the community is waiting for word on the dozens more still missing.

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AJ Willingham and Cassandra Santiago and Gustavo Valdez

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In a collapsed Mexico City school, a community digs for signs of life | CNN

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Strangers, friends and rescuers are scraping through the remains of the Enrique Rebsamen School in Mexico City, looking for missing children and others who may be trapped within.

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Russian forces help Syria for next battle.

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Russian special forces are helping Syrian government troops fight Islamic State militants in the battle underway for the strategic city of Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria, the defense ministry in Moscow said on Thursday.

Russia began its operation to support President Bashar Assad's offensive against the IS in Syria in 2015 but has mostly focused on providing air cover to government troops on the ground.

The campaign for Deir el-Zour, Syria's largest eastern city, is caught up in a race between government troops and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

In the past two weeks, the pro-government forces, backed by Russian air cover and Iranian-allied militiamen, gained control of most of the city and crossed the Euphrates River to the area of SDF operations.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian defense ministry's spokesman, said in a statement that Russian special forces have been deployed to help Syrian government forces fighting the IS militants outside Deir el-Zour.

A Syrian government offensive late on Wednesday captured two villages on the Euphrates' western bank, liberating about 16 square kilometers (6 square miles) of land, Konashenkov said.

Konashenkov also said the Syrian Democratic Forces shelled government positions outside Deir el-Zour twice in recent days and warned the U.S.-led coalition that Moscow would have to retaliate if the Russian troops in the area were to come under fire.

The development comes as the battle for the IS stronghold of Raqqa, north of Deir el-Zour, is reaching its "final stages", the SDF said on Wednesday, four months after the offensive began.

The Kurdish-led SDF said it captured Raqqa's last grain silos from the militants in a surprise offensive on the city's northern neighborhoods. Less than 300 militants remain holed up in the city, which has witnessed an intense bombing campaign, particularly in the last few days, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that monitors the war.

The campaign to take Raqqa began in June in a quick advance after a breach of the wall of the Old City, a major fortification for the militants. But it has since slowed down as the forces faced mounting resistance from the militants.

The Russian defense ministry, however, claimed on Thursday that its intelligence shows the coalition's operation in Raqqa had stopped, and that SDF fighters have been redeployed from there to Deir el-Zour.

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Russian special forces helping Syrian troops in key city

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Russian special forces are helping Syrian government troops fight Islamic State militants in the battle underway for the strategic city of Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria, the defense ministry in Moscow said on Thursday. Russia began its operation to support President Bashar Assad's offensive...

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NASA caught the eye of hurricane Maria on camera

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ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

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Your trusted source for breaking news, analysis, exclusive interviews, headlines, and videos at ABCNews.com

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Trump administration revokes Obama-era transgender bathroom guidance for schools

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The Trump administration Wednesday revoked federal guidelines issued by former President Barack Obama that allowed public school students to use restrooms and other facilities corresponding to their gender identity.

A document submitted to the Supreme Court by the Solicitor General's office said that the Obama-era directive issued this past May did not "undergo any formal public process" or explain how the directive was "consistent with the express language of Title IX," the federal law outlawing sex discrimination in education and activities.

"This is an issue best solved at the state and local level," Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said. "Schools, communities, and families can find -- and in many cases have found -- solutions that protect all students."

"Congress, state legislatures, and local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies or laws addressing this issue," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. "The Department of Justice remains committed to the proper interpretation and enforcement of Title IX and to its protections for all students, including LGBTQ students, from discrimination, bullying, and harassment."

In a letter to the nation's schools, the Justice and Education departments said the earlier guidance "has given rise to significant litigation regarding school restrooms and locker rooms."

The agencies withdrew the guidance to "in order to further and more completely consider the legal issues involved."

Anti-bullying safeguards would not be affected by the change, according to the letter. "All schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment," it said.

It was not clear what immediate impact the change would have on schools, as a federal judge in Texas put a temporary hold on the Obama guidance soon after it was issued -- after 13 states sued.

Even without that hold, the guidance carried no force of law. But transgender rights advocates say it was useful and necessary to protect students from discrimination. Opponents argued it was federal overreach and violated the safety and privacy of other students.

The White House said "returning power to the states paves the way for an open and inclusive process to take place at the local level with input from parents, students, teachers and administrators."

The reversal is a setback for transgender rights groups, which had been urging Trump to keep the guidelines in place. Advocates say federal law will still prohibit discrimination against students based on their gender or sexual orientation.

Still, they say lifting the Obama directive puts children in harm's way.

"Reversing this guidance tells trans kids that it's OK with the Trump administration and the Department of Education for them to be abused and harassed at school for being trans," said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

Activists protested the move Wednesday outside the White House. "Respect existence or expect resistance," read one placard.

Conservatives hailed the change, saying the Obama directives were illegal and violated the rights of fixed-gender students, especially girls who did not feel safe changing clothes or using restrooms next to anatomical males.

"Our daughters should never be forced to share private, intimate spaces with male classmates, even if those young men are struggling with these issues," said Vicki Wilson, a member of Students and Parents for Privacy. "It violates their right to privacy and harms their dignity."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer denied media reports that DeVos, who has been criticized for her stance on LGBT issues, had opposed the change but was overruled by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Spicer said any disagreement was merely over wording and timing.

"There is no daylight between anybody," Spicer said, adding that DeVos was "100 percent" on board with the decision.

Legal experts said the change in position could impact pending court cases involving the federal sex discrimination law, including a case to be heard by the Supreme Court in March involving Gavin Grimm, a transgender teen who was denied bathroom access in Virginia.

The justices could decide not to hear the case and direct lower courts to decide that issue.

In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Grimm said of the Trump action: "It's not positive. It has the possibility of hurting transgender students and transgender people. We're going to keep fighting like we have been and keep fighting for the right thing."

A patchwork of state laws could continue to emerge as a result of the change. Fifteen states have explicit protections for transgender students in their state laws, and many individual school districts in other states have adopted policies that cover such students on the basis of their gender identity, said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign. Just one state, North Carolina, has enacted a law restricting access to bathrooms in government-owned buildings to the sex that appears on a person's birth certificate. Lawmakers in more than 10 states are considering similar legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Fox News' Shannon Bream and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Trump administration revokes Obama-era transgender bathroom guidance for schools

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The Trump administration Wednesday revoked federal guidelines issued by former President Barack Obama that allowed public school students to use restrooms and other facilities corresponding to their gender identity.

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Bill Gates: Sorry about Control-Alt-Delete

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Bill Gates is sorry that he made it so annoying to log in to your computer.

The billionaire Microsoft co-founder admitted Wednesday that the Control-Alt-Delete function used to start up Windows computers is an awkward maneuver.

"If I could make one small edit, I'd make that a single key," Gates said Wednesday on a panel at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York City.

It's a confession Gates has made before. In 2013, he blamed IBM for the issue.

Related: Jack Ma: We need to stop training our kids for manufacturing jobs

"We could have had a single button. But the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't want to give us our single button," Gates said at a Harvard University event at the time.

Users can press a single key to log in -- not three -- on Apple's Mac computers.

The tech luminary, along with his wife, is the co-chair of the world's largest private charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The couple teamed up with dignitaries like President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in New York on Wednesday to promote their new Goalkeepers report, which tracks progress on the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

CNNMoney (New York) First published September 20, 2017: 4:56 PM ET

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Bill Gates: Sorry about Control-Alt-Delete

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The billionaire Microsoft co-founder admitted Wednesday that the Control-Alt-Delete function used to start up Windows computers is an awkward maneuver. "If I could make one small edit, I'd make that a single key," Gates said Wednesday on a panel at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York City.

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Hurricane Maria at a category 3 winds blowing at  115 mph.

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Story highlights

The large eye of Hurricane Maria lumbered toward the popular vacation islands of Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas on Thursday, leaving Puerto Rico and its Caribbean neighbors battered, drenched and largely without power.

The core of Maria, a major hurricane, is forecast to pass just east of the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas early Friday.

The Category 3 storm has sustained winds of 125 mph, the US National Hurricane Center said.

In just 24 hours, Maria dumped almost 40 inches of rain on parts of Puerto Rico, where millions of residents won't have power for months. Most of the island saw more than a foot of precipitation as Maria turned streets into raging rivers.

The storm brought down trees and poured up to 6 inches of rain on the Dominican Republic as the eyewall passed to the east.

Many Puerto Ricans spent Thursday cleaning up. A man in the La Perla area of San Juan told CNN he still had his faith. "It's incredible ... but I believe in God, and we can do anything with the help of God," Roberto Caballero said.

CNN teams in San Juan saw that some shops were open. All had long lines.

Maria has brought misery to many Caribbean Islands and death to Dominica, where at least 15 people were killed when the storm passed earlier this week, according to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

Here's the latest on Maria's destruction, and what's next.

Dominican Republic gets thrashed

Although Maria is drifting away from the Dominican Republic, parts of the country are still seeing hurricane conditions, the National Hurricane Center said.

"A dangerous storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves will raise water levels by as much as 4 to 6 feet" in parts of the Dominican Republic - where rivers were still swollen from Hurricane Irma, forecasters said. Haiti, on the western part of the island, could see a storm surge of up to 3 feet.

Maria will likely strengthen as it moves across warm water, endangering low-lying islands with enormous storm surges. And the Turks and Caicos could see as much as 20 inches of rainfall, the hurricane center said.

Maria could affect the US East Coast by early next week with high surf, dangerous rip currents and windy conditions. Depending on its path, the system could also bring rain from the mid-Atlantic to Massachusetts, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.

Puerto Rico: Power system 'basically ... destroyed'

Puerto Ricans might not get power back for four to six months, said Ricardo Ramos, the CEO of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

"The system has been basically destroyed," Ramos told CNN. He said hospitals and water systems will get priority power restoration.

The island's largest airport, the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, will be open to commercial traffic Friday, according to Aerostar Puerto Rico, which manages the airport near San Juan.

Emergency generators will power the limited operations, and there will be no air conditioning, the operator said.

President Donald Trump told reporters that he will visit Puerto Rico, a US commonwealth, but did not detail when.

"Puerto Rico was absolutely obliterated," Trump said. "We'll work with the governor and the people of Puerto Rico."

Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Maria is the "most devastating storm to hit the island this century, if not in modern history."

Puerto Rico has been through a long recession and is deeply in debt. Before the storm hit, the state-owned power grid was "a little bit old, mishandled and weak," the governor said.

Retired Army veteran Manuel Torres called Maria's devastation the worst he'd ever seen. His mother's house in La Perla, an oceanfront community in old San Juan, was destroyed.

Emerging after the storm had passed, Torres found the three-story home reduced to two stories.

Angela Magaña, a UFC fighter who lives in the area, said neighbors were helping each other.

"We need cleanup, water, food, and generators," she told CNN. "There are a lot of old people here who are going without necessities. We need to rebuild and restructure, and we need prayers. Any kind of help we can get because it's a mess right now."

This was taken an hour after #HurricaneMaria passed over Puerto Rico. Now there are flash flood warnings across the entire island. @CNN pic.twitter.com/CAHMMTNgzF
- JAIDE (@Jaide_GarciaCNN) September 21, 2017

Dozens of families were rescued from flooding Thursday in Levittown, near the capital city of San Juan, a spokeswoman for the Puerto Rican governor tweeted. The Puerto Rican National Guard was still searching for others in need of rescue, she said.

Cassidy Spooner, a tourist from Jacksonville, Florida, came upon animals as she was checking out the damage in Luquillo on Thursday.

"The dog was looking for food. I saw her find raw bacon in the street and eat it," she said. Spooner told CNN she saw kittens and cats near a house nearby that appeared to have cat food, but the felines looked skinny and scared.

Neighbors were trying to take care of the animals, she said.

Army Reserve Brig. Gen Dustin Shultz told "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon" there are 4,500 reserve soldiers on Puerto Rico to assist the National Guard.

Dominica: 'The need is great'

Prime Minister Skerrit said Dominica was almost completely devastated.

"First of all, every village in Dominica, every street in Dominica ... is affected by the hurricane," he told ABS TV/Radio, based in Antigua and Barbuda. "We have no running water, no electricity, no power, we have very limited communication services." Skerrit's own home was demolished in the storm.

There is desperate need for food, water and medical supplies on the island of 73,000 residents, officials said.

"The need is great," said Philmore Mullin, head of Antigua and Barbuda's National Office of Disaster Services. "We know of casualties, but not in detail. We've heard of many missing, but we just don't know much at the moment."

Skerrit is "homeless" and "bunking up in an area called St. Aroment," government spokesman Charles Jong said.

A flight Wednesday over Dominica showed thousands of trees had been snapped and were strewn across the landscape, leaving the island stripped of vegetation.

CNN also saw evidence of dozens of mudslides, although not in population centers. The usually blue-green sea in many places had turned a muddy brown.

US Virgin Islands: 24-hour curfew in place

Maria also annihilated homes on the US Virgin Islands. On Thursday, Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp announced a 24-hour curfew, effective immediately, on the four main US Virgin Islands - St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island.

"Your presence on the roads during the curfew hours will only hamper clean-up efforts and could delay the distribution of critically needed supplies," Mapp said.

One of the hardest hit islands was St. Croix. Maria didn't just obliterate homes, it knocked out vital communication lines, resident Murillo Melo said.

"Here on the island and on the mainland, people are trying to get in contact with friends and relatives," he said. "People are desperate to get some news from their friends and relatives."

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Trump declared the US Virgin Islands a major disaster area and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts.

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Puerto Rico cleans up as Turks and Caicos brace for Hurricane Maria | CNN

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The large eye of Hurricane Maria lumbered toward the popular vacation islands of Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas on Thursday, leaving Puerto Rico and its Caribbean neighbors battered, drenched and largely without power. The core of Maria, a major hurricane, is forecast to pass just east of the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas early Friday.

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Moose hammers a historical homer. Most home runs by a royals player in one season.

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Child hospitalized after being struck by a foul ball.

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New York Yankees Adam Wells Angels Baseball LP/Getty Images Twitter Logo Featured Columnist
A young fan was struck with a foul ball and had to be taken to the hospital during Wednesday's game between the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees.

The Yankees released a statement (h/t Sports Illustrated's Kenny Ducey) saying the child received first aid at Yankee Stadium and was "receiving medical attention at an area hospital."

The incident occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning when Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier lined a ball into the seats above the dugout down the third base line.

Per Dan Martinof the New York Post, play was stopped for nearly four minutes as the child received medical attention in the stands before being taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

Martin also noted Frazier "immediately put his hand to his mouth and went to one knee and other players were visibly shaken by the injury."

The Yankees don't have additional protective netting that extends down the base lines.

In 2015, Major League Baseball issued a memo to all 30 teams that encouraged them to "shield the seats between the near ends of both dugouts and within 70 feet of home plate with protective netting or other safety materials of their choice."

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Child Hospitalized After Being Struck by Foul Ball During Twins vs. Yankees

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New York Yankees Adam Wells Angels Baseball LP/Getty Images Twitter Logo Featured Columnist A young fan was struck with a foul ball and had to be taken to the hospital during Wednesday's game between the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees.

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Trump slashes Obama's legacy. Criticizing Obama Care, etc.

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President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers have the chance to shred the signature achievements of the 44th President's two terms -- Obamacare and the nuclear deal with Iran.

Trump has often given the impression that overturning his predecessor's imprint on America and the world from the environment to health care, from foreign policy to Wall Street is the most compelling rationale of his presidency.

"Obamacare is a disaster, it is failing badly," Trump said Wednesday. Hours earlier, he said he'd already decided whether to stick to a nuclear pact he blasted on Tuesday as an "embarrassment to the United States."

The retired commander in chief meanwhile, is discovering the frustrations experienced by presidents when they transition from being the most powerful man in the world to having little say in the preservation of their legacies.

He said Wednesday it was "aggravating" for Democrats to keep having to save a law designed that protects people with pre-existing conditions and cancer survivors and is intended to provide affordable coverage to anyone.

But he also said that progress can come in fits and starts, perhaps steeling his supporters for tough days to come.

"Many you are young and maybe have only seen forward momentum, and may not have seen backward momentum yet," he said at a Gates Foundation event in New York. "Many of you may confront hurdles and roadblocks and disappointments in the future. And when that happens, that's the test."

Not dead yet

But while they are in peril, Obama's achievements are not dead yet. Obamacare after all, has been the law that refuses to die, surviving two Supreme Court challenges and thwarting previous attempts by the GOP monopoly on Washington power to kill it.

And the ramifications of ending the nuclear deal may yet weigh on the President's mind as he contemplates the prospect of traumatizing relations with key US allies and the prospect of another nuclear crisis to add to the showdown with North Korea if Iran then races for the bomb.

Some of the consequences of repealing Obamacare and dumping the Iran deal are also impossible to calculate before Trump and Republicans take the leap.

That means that even if Obama's legacy takes a hit in the days to come -- history may judge the current debates with a different eye.

Still, it would sicken Obama's supporters to see both legacy prizes swept away because both are central to the former president's concept of politics.

Obamacare was the centerpiece of his ambition to revive Democratic activist government and social reform to an extent not seen since the 1960s.

The Iran deal was the ultimate validation of his conviction that the United States should talk to its enemies in pursuit of audacious foreign policy goals.

But presidential legacies are seasoned over decades and centuries, not in the few months after a presidency ends. And Obama and Trump are fated to be judged against one for ever, and this is just an early historical skirmish.

Should Republicans for instance trigger chaos in insurance markets and put the US on a path to war with Iran, Obama's achievements may look more significant in retrospect.

However, if Republican alternatives prosper over the long term and deliver results, Obama's presidency could seem less successful in hindsight.

The fresh attempt to repeal Obamacare is taking place in the Senate, and involves some of the former president's consistent antagonists, including Sen. Lindsey Graham and Majority leader Mitch McConnell.

But the race to beat a deadline to pass a repeal bill before the end of the month that eliminates federal funding for Medicaid subsidies and elevates the role of the states in health care is not a guaranteed long term winner for Republicans.

That's one reason why the 11th-hour effort by Republicans is hanging by a thread, with holdouts including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Arizona's John McCain under fearsome pressure to sign on.

"I think it has a very good chance," Trump said.

While he is rooting for health care action, Trump also appears to be moving closer to fulfilling a campaign promise to pull out of a deal that froze Iran's nuclear program in return for a lifting of international sanctions.

The fact he has the power to do so reflects the agreement's political Achilles' heel. Because of Republican opposition Obama could not get Congress to ratify it as a treaty, so billed it an executive agreement, meaning it could be overturned by a successor.

But pulling out of the deal could be as perilous for Trump as disrupting the health care system.

To begin with, Trump's antipathy to the agreement seems as much motivated by personal inclination as by a provable rationale that Iran is breaching it.

The administration's case is also weakened by its failure so far to show how it would stop Tehran resuming uranium enrichment that could lead to a push to make a bomb -- if Trump trashes the deal.

Iran tugged at the vulnerability of the President's position own Wednesday.

"I declare to you the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement, but it will respond decisively and resolutely to its violation by any party," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the United Nations.

America's closest allies have also warned against pulling out of the deal -- raising the prospect of a rupture that could have long term consequences for Trump's presidency.

"If we simply throw out this agreement, it can't be replaced. There's nothing to replace it," said French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

His warning highlights a dilemma that Trump may or may not wish to consider: As he sets about diminishing Obama's legacy -- he is taking substantial risks with his own.

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Trump slashes at Obama's legacy, but risks his own

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President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers have the chance to shred the signature achievements of the 44th President's two terms -- Obamacare and the nuclear deal with Iran. Trump has often given the impression that overturning his predecessor's imprint on America and the world from the environment to health care, from foreign policy to Wall Street is the most compelling rationale of his presidency.

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Puerto Rico may be without power for months, and Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said that this hurricane is "the most devastating storm in a century." The governor asked Donald Trump to declare the the island a disaster area, but he has yet to do so.

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The Titans and the Broncos both failed to use the right flag when trying to support Mexico because of the earthquake

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The Titans and Broncos deserve a flag for these social media posts.

Both teams attempted to show their support for Mexico in light of the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit the country this week.

They both failed miserably.

Without the coat of arms in the center, the flag of Mexico is simply geen, white and red... better known as the flag of Italy.

The Titans and Broncos failed the realize that, instead replacing the crest with their respective team logos, which made it look like they were showing their love for Italy.

Fuhgeddaboudit.

An MLB team got in on the flag errors too.

The White Sox tweeted before their game Wednesday that they send "their best wishes and thoughts" to Mexico and Puerto Rico (whose people are recovering from a devistating hurricane).

While they got the flag of Mexico correct, the team accidentally sent out a photo of the Cuban flag instead of the Puerto Rican one (which looks quite similar).

However, the White Sox did correct the error, replying to the tweet with the correct flag.

Hey, it's the thought that counts.
Send a Letter to the Editor

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NFL teams show wrong flag while trying to support Mexico

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The Titans and Broncos deserve a flag for these social media posts. Both teams attempted to show their support for Mexico in light of the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit the country this week. They both failed miserably. Without the coat of arms in the center, the flag of Mexico is simply geen, white and red...

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Venomous snake slithers into a Australian couples bed. They were in their 30's.They have not said if they are dead or not.

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Snakes make for strange bedfellows.

An Australian couple learned that lesson the hard way when a venomous visitor slithered into their home Wednesday and cozily coiled up in their bed.

The couple, reportedly in their 30s, found the eastern brown snake at about 10 a.m. in their home in Murarrie, which is south of Brisbane. The pair quickly dialed a local snake catcher to come and seize the serpent, Daily Mail Australia reported.

"I received a call from a woman informing me about the snake. She told me that it was on their bedroom floor," Stewart Lalor, of Elite Snake Catching Services, told Daily Mail Australia. "But, when I got there, the snake had quickly moved up to the couple's bed and I eventually found it under their blanket."
ELDERLY WOMAN KILLS COPPERHEAD SNAKES WITH SHOTGUN, SHOVEL AND RAKE HANDLE
Lalor captured the eastern brown snake, the second most poisonous snake in the world, and released it into a creek. Lalor did not reveal the exact location where he set the snake free, but he said the snake was placed in an area with "enough food supply" to keep it happy.

"It would be pointless to leave them in a big open area with no food source as they will only make their way back into homes," Lalor said.

Lalor posted photos on Elite Snake Catching Services' Facebook page Wednesday showing the snake in the bed sheets.

"Not exactly the best place to encounter a highly venomous snake," the post read. "Fortunately these guys have no interest in humans and are only dangerous when interacted with, however in a situation like this the outcome could have been unfavourable."
TEEN DIES AFTER BEING BIT BY SNAKE IN MENSTRUATION HUT, REPORTS CLAIM
Eastern brown snakes are the cause of the majority of snakebite deaths in Australia, according to Australian Reptile Park.

The snakes are found throughout most of eastern Australia.

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Venomous snake slithers into Australian couple's bed

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Snakes make for strange bedfellows. An Australian couple learned that lesson the hard way when a venomous visitor slithered into their home Wednesday and cozily coiled up in their bed. The couple, reportedly in their 30s, found the eastern brown snake at about 10 a.m. in their home in Murarrie, which is south of Brisbane.

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Hurricane re-strengthens to a category 3 and it leaves Puerto Rico without power and its heading to DR

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Hurricane Maria regained major hurricane status early Thursday, strengthening to a Category 3 storm, as it left a devastated -- and completely powerless -- Puerto Rico in its wake and at least 15 dead people in Dominica.

The prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, said at least 15 people died after the storm hit the island and 20 people were missing. Maria is also deemed responsible two deaths on Guadeloupe and one in Puerto Rico.

Skerrit cried as he spoke to a reporter with ABS TV/Radio on the nearby island of Antigua, the Associated Press reported.

He said it was a miracle the death toll was not in the hundreds, adding Dominica "is going to need all the help the world has to offer."

The strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years left the entire island without electricity, making it difficult to assess just how much damage was caused by Maria's unrelenting onslaught.

The storm, with winds of 120 mph and traveling northwest at 9 mph, is now passing the northeastern Dominican Republic and headed for the Turks and Caicos. It was centered about 135 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island as of Thursday morning.

"Once we're able to go outside, we're going to find our island destroyed," said Abner Gomez, Puerto Rico's emergency management director. "The information we have received is not encouraging. It's a system that has destroyed everything in its path."

Uprooted trees and widespread flooding blocked many highways and streets across the island, creating a maze that forced drivers to go against traffic and past police cars that used loudspeakers to warn people they must respect an overnight curfew imposed by the governor to ensure everyone's safety.

Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm, weakened to a Category 2 as it tore through the island and then regained strength as it came close to the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

"The hit on Puerto Rico has been devastating with over 2 feet of rain, incredible storm surge and the whole island without power," Fox News Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean said Thursday. "It is the worst disaster Puerto Rico has experienced in a generation. We have yet to see the devastation they are waking up to."

"It is the worst disaster Puerto Rico has experienced in a generation. We have yet to see the devastation they are waking up to."
- Fox News Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean

The hurricane was still dumping rain early Thursday in Puerto Rico, where crumbled red roof tiles lay scattered across many roads, and curious residents ducked under dozens of black power lines still swaying in heavy winds.

More than 11,000 people - and more than 580 pets - were in shelters, authorities said.

In the island's capital of San Juan, eucalyptus trees fell nearly every other block over a main road dotted with popular bars, restaurants, and coffee shops, some of which were damaged.

Outside a nearby apartment building, 40-year-old tourism company operator Adrian Pacheco told the AP how he spent eight hours in a stairwell huddled with 100 other residents when the hurricane ripped the storm shutters off his building and decimated three balconies.

"I think people didn't expect the storm to reach the point that it did," he said. "Since Irma never really happened, they thought Maria would be the same."

Officials are unable to say when electricity would return on the island, which was already crumbling amid lack of maintenance and a dwindling staff even before the Hurricanes Irma and Maria knocked out power. Many now believe it will take weeks, if not months, to restore power.

President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico early Thursday after Maria slammed into the U.S. territory. The declaration makes federal funding available to Puerto Ricans affected by the storm.

On the northern part of the island, the mayor of one coastal town said he received reports of one area losing 80 percent of the homes in the area.

Catano Mayor Felix Delgado said the small fishing community near the San Juan Bay was inundated with more than 4 feet of storm surge from Maria.

Delgado told ElNuevoDía.com "this generation is going to play to build the new Catano."

As of now, Maria poses no immediate threat to the U.S. mainland. The long-range forecast showed the storm out in the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of miles off the Georgia-South Carolina coast by Monday morning.

"Residents across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coast will still need to monitor Maria's path, although it looks likely the storm will stay offshore," Dean said Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Hurricane Maria leaves Puerto Rico powerless, at least 15 dead on Dominica

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Hurricane Maria regained major hurricane status early Thursday, strengthening to a Category 3 storm, as it left a devastated -- and completely powerless -- Puerto Rico in its wake and at least 15 dead people in Dominica. The prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, said at least 15 people died after the storm hit the island and 20 people were missing.

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hurricane maria goes right through the Caribbean. Parts of Puerto Rico could be without electricity for months.

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On Wednesday, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico directly, landing as a Category 4 hurricane in the town of Yabucoa with sustained winds of up to 155 mph (250 km/h). The storm destroyed hundred of homes and knocked out power across the island, reports the Associated Press (AP). Ricardo Rossello, the island's governor, has imposed a daily curfew between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. through Saturday to allow for recovery operations.

The entire island is now in a total blackout as a result of the storm, with recovery in some parts not expected for an extended period of time. "Once we're able to go outside, we're going to find our island destroyed," warned Abner Gomez, the island's emergency management director, according to AP. Here's what you need to know.

What happened?

Power was gradually knocked out as Maria pummeled Puerto Rico, according to Vox. About half of all customers of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the island's sole power supplier, reported a loss of power at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday; by noon, the outage spread to all of PREPA's 1.5 million customers.

How could a storm knock out power across the whole island?

Puerto Rico's power grid was already in bad shape even before the 2017 hurricane season. PREPA's power plants are 44 years old on average, reports Reuters - in contrast with the industry-wide average of 18 years.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy in July, called its own system "degraded and unsafe," saying in a fiscal plan released this April that "years of under-investment have led to severe degradation of infrastructure," according to Reuters.

According to Vox, PREPA also faces a manpower shortage that, even before this hurricane season, was already impeding its day-to-day maintenance.

The general economic situation is also grim. Puerto Rico's finances have been in dire straits for years. The island has yet to emerge from a decade-long recession, and unemployment stands at 11%. Its government entered a process similar to bankruptcy protection in May in a bid to restructure its debt load, currently in excess of $70 billion.

How long is it expected to last?

The combined effects of crumbling infrastructure, financial woes and Hurricane Irma's impact mean that restoring power across the island is expected to be a difficult process.

"It depends on the damage to the infrastructure," Rossello told CNN Wednesday evening. "I'm afraid it's probably going to be severe. If it is ... we're looking at months as opposed to weeks or days."

Puerto Rican officials think that the power distribution infrastructure might be more badly damaged than power stations, the governor told CNN, adding that power could be more quickly restored if transmission lines turn out to be in better shape than thought.

Why is Hurricane Irma a factor?

Parts of the power grid had just begun to recover from the damage caused by Irma, which skirted north of the island earlier this month.

At the time, over 1 million users in Puerto Rico lost power, according to NBC News. On Tuesday, before Maria slammed onto the island, about 70,000 people were still left without electricity as a result of Irma, CNBC reports.

Rep. Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon, a Republican representing Puerto Rico, told CNBC Tuesday that she has brought up the issue of electric supply with Brock Long, director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).

"We were asking him to have more resources in terms of electrical teams that can help us out to solve the situation and recover the infrastructure of the power grid on the island," she said. "That is going to be the main issue."

Has this happened in Puerto Rico before?

Yes. A large fire at a power plant last September caused the island's whole power system to fail, and left millions in the dark for several days. That disruption was blamed on PREPA's crumbling infrastructure.

Will the U.S. federal government intervene?

Rossello has asked President Donald Trump to declare Puerto Rico a disaster zone. FEMA announced Monday that Trump had made an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, which enabled the agency to coordinate relief efforts.

A major disaster declaration would mean an increase in federal resources and programs available for affected areas to recover. But according to Vox, the series of underlying issues with Puerto Rico's power grid means that federal relief funds, if approved by Congress, would only be of limited help in this regard.

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Parts of Puerto Rico Could Have No Power For Months

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On Wednesday, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico directly, landing as a Category 4 hurricane in the town of Yabucoa with sustained winds of up to 155 mph (250 km/h). The storm destroyed hundred of homes and knocked out power across the island, reports the Associated Press (AP).

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Demi Lovato cirtized for not annoucing her sexuality.She claps back saying that she doesn't need her sexuality on a magizine or a tweet she told the LGBTQ community that she "Loves who she loves"

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This is not the first time Lovato has been asked about her sexuality. Her 2015 hit, "Cool for the Summer," features lines like It's OK/ I'm a little curious too," and "Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type/ Just something that we wanna try," which she revealed in an interview to be -- like all her songs -- based on personal experience.

"I am not confirming and I'm definitely not denying," Lovato said on the British talk show Alan Carr: Chatty Man. "All of my songs are based off of personal experiences. I don't think there's anything wrong with experimentation at all."

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Demi Lovato Claps Back After Being Criticized for Not Disclosing Her Sexuality: 'I Don't Owe Anybody Anything'

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This is not the first time Lovato has been asked about her sexuality. Her 2015 hit, "Cool for the Summer," features lines like It's OK/ I'm a little curious too," and "Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type/ Just something that we wanna try," which she revealed in an interview to be -- like all her songs -- based on personal experience.