Puerto Rico, Hurricane Erin
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Hurricane Erin, Category 4 storm
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Storms that ramp up so quickly complicate forecasting and make it harder for government agencies to plan for emergencies. Hurricane Erick, a Pacific storm that made landfall June 19 in Oaxaca, Mexico, also strengthened rapidly, doubling in intensity in less than a day.
While Erin won't hit the U.S. directly, the storm's biggest impact on the East Coast will be along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where coastal flood watches, tropical storm watches and storm surge watches are in effect. The storm surge could be as high as 4 feet.
Hurricane Erin forced tourists to cut their vacations short on North Carolina’s Outer Banks even though the monster storm is expected to stay offshore after lashing part of the Caribbean with rain and wind on Monday.
Erin briefly strengthened into a 'catastrophic' Category 5 storm before its windspeeds weakened. However, the Category 3 Hurricane will still bring heavy rains.
Bill Kelly has the latest NEXT Weather forecast for the Philadelphia region on Tuesday night.