Hurricane Erin intensifies offshore, lashes Caribbean with rain

Hurricane Erin quickly strengthened offshore to a “catastrophic” Category 5 storm on Saturday (August 16, 2025), as rain lashed Caribbean islands and climate officers warned of potential flash floods and landslides.

The first hurricane of what’s anticipated to be a very intense Atlantic season, Erin is anticipated to drench Caribbean islands with rain and robust winds however not make 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 U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) mentioned in its newest report.

The storm’s most sustained winds have been blowing at 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour, the report mentioned.

Hurricane Erin was positioned about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northwest of Anguilla within the northern Leeward Islands, an space that features the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

Tropical storm watches have been in impact for St Martin, St Barthelemy, Sint Maarten and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“Erin is now a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane,” the NHC introduced earlier Saturday, denoting extremely harmful storms with sustained wind speeds above 157 mph.

The storm reached the best degree on the Saffir-Simpson scale simply over 24 hours after changing into a Category 1 hurricane, a fast intensification that scientists say has develop into extra frequent because of world warming.

The storm may drench the islands with as a lot as six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in remoted areas, the NHC mentioned.

“Continued rapid strengthening is expected today, followed by fluctuations in intensity through the weekend,” the company mentioned in an earlier report.

It additionally warned of “locally considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides.”

Climate hazard

Swells generated by Erin will have an effect on parts of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and the Turks and Caicos Islands by the weekend.

Those swells will unfold to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the US East Coast early subsequent week, creating “life-threatening surf and rip currents,” the NHC mentioned.

The hurricane is anticipated to show northwest on Saturday night time, then flip northward early subsequent week. It is anticipated to weaken from Monday.

While meteorologists have expressed confidence that Erin will stay properly off the U.S. shoreline, they mentioned the storm may nonetheless trigger harmful waves and erosion in locations similar to North Carolina.

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June till late November, is anticipated to be extra intense than regular, U.S. meteorologists predict.

Several highly effective storms wreaked havoc within the area final yr, together with Hurricane Helene, which killed greater than 200 individuals within the southeastern United States.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — which operates the NHC — has been topic to funds cuts and layoffs as a part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to significantly cut back the scale of the federal paperwork, resulting in fears of lapses in storm forecasting.

Human-driven local weather change — particularly, rising sea temperatures brought on by the burning of fossil fuels — has elevated each the potential for the event of extra intense storms and their extra fast intensification, scientists say.