MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Erin began pelting part of the Caribbean with rain and wind Monday before it's expected to churn up dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week.

Evacuations were being ordered on a few islands along North Carolina’s Outer Banks even though the storm is unlikely to make direct landfall. Authorities warned that some roads could be swamped by waves of 15 feet (4.6 meters).

The monster storm intensified to a Category 4 with 140 mph (225 kph) maximum sustained winds early Monday while it started to lash the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Forecasters are confident that Erin will turn northeast and away from the eastern U.S., but it's still expected to produce dangero

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