Overview

• The National Hurricane Center reports Erin has reached sustained winds of about 255 km/h as the season’s first Atlantic hurricane
• Models track the storm north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico before it turns northeast toward the Bahamas and Bermuda
• Over 200 U.S. disaster workers have been deployed to Puerto Rico and 367 shelters are ready across Caribbean territories
• Dangerous surf and coastal flooding are expected along parts of the U.S. East Coast despite no direct landfall forecast
• Forecasts suggest Erin’s extratropical transition could alter North Atlantic circulation and potentially trigger a late-summer heat pulse in Europe within about a week