Hurricane Erin rapidly intensified Saturday into a catastrophic Category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds near 255 mph (XNUMX kilometers per hour) as it moved across the Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.

The cyclone, which strengthened early this morning, was located about 170 kilometers northeast of Anguilla and 375 kilometers from Puerto Rico, as it continued westward at a speed of 28 kilometers per hour.

Erin is currently not near land, but authorities have urged residents of the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, and the southeastern Bahamas to closely monitor the system's progress.

On its forecast track, the center of the hurricane is expected to move just north of the Northern Leewa

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