Island communities off the coast of North Carolina are bracing for flooding ahead of Hurricane Erin, the year’s first Atlantic hurricane.

The first hurricane of 2025 in the Atlantic continued to track north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, hitting those islands with heavy rain and gusty winds. Erin is expected to move away from the islands later today and begin to curve more to the north.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm again Monday morning and is expected to grow even larger and stronger, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Although Erin is forecast to move north between the U.S. and Bermuda, life-threatening surf and rip currents are likely across the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada.

If you're caught in a rip current, the first step is to flip to your back and float. Staying calm and not exhausting yourself by fighting against the current is essential to avoid

NOAA's GOES-19 satellite captured images of Hurricane Erin as it developed in the Atlantic and then rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 storm.