Hurricane Erin is a sprawling Category 4 storm churning in the Atlantic Monday after exploding in strength at a historic rate this weekend. The storm’s enormous footprint is becoming the biggest concern.

Hurricane Erin is pelting parts of the Caribbean and is forecast to create dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week.

While the category 4 storm is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. east coast, it will have an impact nonetheless. Dangerous high surf and rip currents are expected from Florida to New England throughout the week.

Additional strengthening is expected as the storm is forecast to “remain a large and dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Erin pelted parts of the Caribbean and was forecast to create dangerous surf and rip currents along the US East Coast this week.

Early Monday, the storm strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph as it approached the southeastern Bahamas, the NHC reported.

The Atlantic basin includes the northern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of America, as the Gulf of Mexico is now known in the U.S. per an order from President Trump. NOAA and the National Hurricane Center are now using Gulf of America on its maps and in its advisories.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Hurricane Erin became a major hurricane over the weekend and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The system rapidly intensified from a tropical storm on Friday into a category 5 hurricane Saturday, gaining 90 miles per hour of sustained winds in just a 24 hour period.

Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect in parts of North Carolina as the US East Coast braces for life-threatening rip currents from Hurricane Erin.

Island communities off the coast of North Carolina are bracing for flooding ahead of the year’s first Atlantic hurricane, Hurricane Erin. Although forecasters are confident that the storm won’t make direct landfall in the United States,

The storm will remain a major hurricane through the middle of the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.