Major Hurricane Erin's outer bands were lashing Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands with heavy rains, as officials in the North Carolina Outer Banks declared a state of emergency Sunday.

The big picture: The U.S. was expected to avoid a direct hit, but Dare County made the emergency declaration and issued a mandatory evacuation order for Hatteras Island for Monday onwards due to the storm's expected "life-threatening impacts."

Good evening! Here is the 5 PM update for Major Hurricane Erin. While there is high forecast confidence that Erin will...

Threat level: Erin's intensity was fluctuating on Sunday — weakening from a Category 5 to a Category 3 storm before strengthening back into a Category 4 hurricane late Sunday. • "Some additional strengthening is expected over the next 12

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