Hurricane Erin is growing, and so are the dangers it could bring

Hurricane Erin is growing larger, and its expected impact is likely to stretch far beyond its footprint.

Nearly the entire East Coast of the United States was at risk for dangerous rip currents, and officials in North Carolina ordered the evacuation of some coastal areas, concerned that bands from the storm’s outer edges could lead to heavy rain and strong winds by Wednesday.

Monday, the storm’s eye was already more than 35 miles in diameter, and the tropical-storm-force winds (39 mph or higher) spinning around it stretched 230 miles from the center. Typically, a hurricane’s tropical-storm-force winds extend about 150 miles outward; Erin’s reach almost double that, and it is still growing in size, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Authorities in Hyde County, North Carolina, de