Overview

• Erin underwent rapid intensification on August 16, escalating from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.
• The forecast track calls for the storm’s center to pass just north of the northern Leeward Islands, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico before veering northeast into the open Atlantic.
• Tropical-storm watches and heavy-rain warnings are in effect across multiple Caribbean islands, and the U.S. Coast Guard has closed several ports in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to inbound vessels.
• Disney Cruise Line and other operators have rerouted voyages, with the Disney Treasure replacing its Tortola and St. Thomas stops with calls at Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Falmouth, Jamaica.
• Forecasters say Erin is expected to double or triple in size by midweek, broadening life-threatening swells and rip currents from the Bahamas to Atlantic Canada.