As rain battered Caribbean islands and weather officials issued warnings of potential flash floods and landslides, Hurricane Erin quickly intensified offshore to a “catastrophic” Category 5 storm on Saturday.
Erin, the first hurricane of what is predicted to be an exceptionally powerful Atlantic season, is predicted to bring heavy rain and wind to Caribbean islands without making landfall.
“The center of Erin is expected to move just north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through Sunday, and pass to the east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas Sunday night and Monday,” the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest report.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds were blowing at 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour, the report said.
Hurricane Erin was situated in the northern Leeward Islands, which include the British Virgin Islands and the United States, around 160 miles (257 kilometers) northwest of Anguilla.
Sint Maarten, the Turks and Caicos Islands, St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy were under tropical storm watches.
“Erin is now a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane,” the NHC announced earlier Saturday, denoting highly dangerous storms with sustained wind speeds above 157 mph.
The storm reached the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale just over 24 hours after becoming a Category 1 hurricane, a rapid intensification that scientists say has become more common due to global warming.
The storm could drench the islands with as much as six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in isolated areas, the NHC said.
“Continued rapid strengthening is expected today, followed by fluctuations in intensity through the weekend,” the agency said in an earlier report.
It also warned of “locally considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides.”
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