Caribbean: Hurricane Erin strengthens to Category 4, heading for the Bahamas

There's no end in sight, in four letters. Hurricane Erin strengthened again Sunday evening, reaching Category 4 status, as it approached the Bahamas in the Caribbean . These Central American islands were already hit by strong winds and heavy rains, with a risk of flooding and landslides, according to the U.S. weather service.

In Puerto Rico, the US territory devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017 , more than 150,000 residents are now without power. This hurricane, the first of the season in the area, strengthened on Saturday to the maximum Category 5 , described as " catastrophic " by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), before the decrease in wind speed downgraded it to Category 3. But on Sunday evening around 11 p.m. local time (5 a.m. in France), the NHC wrote that Erin had " reinforced itself into a Category 4 hurricane ," warning of " potentially deadly waves and currents on the East Coast ."

It was located about 205 kilometers from Grand Turk Island, with winds measured at a maximum of 215 km/h. " The eye of Erin is expected to pass to the east and northeast " of this archipelago, and to the " southeast of the Bahamas during the night of Sunday into Monday ," the NHC warned in its latest bulletin.

Earlier Saturday, winds had reached 255 km/h. " Fluctuations in intensity are expected in the coming days due to changes in the internal structure of the system. Erin is becoming a larger system ," warned the organization, which, like other American weather services, has suffered budget cuts imposed by the Donald Trump administration.

The weather event could dump up to 200 millimeters of rain on some isolated areas, according to the NHC, which warns of " significant flooding, as well as landslides or mudslides ." In Puerto Rico, a population of more than 3.2 million, " nearly 155,000 customers are without power ," the local electricity company Luma announced on X.

Swells generated by Erin are also affecting other islands in the northern Lesser Antilles, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, as well as the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. They will then spread early this week to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the east and southeast coasts of the United States. While Erin is expected to remain fairly far from the U.S. coast, the hurricane could still cause significant waves and coastal erosion, particularly in North Carolina in the southeast.

The hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November, is expected to be more intense than normal this year, according to forecasts from U.S. weather authorities. In 2024, the region was hit by several very powerful and deadly storms, including Hurricane Helene , which killed more than 200 people in the southeastern United States. By warming the seas, climate change is making it more likely that storms will intensify rapidly and increasing the risk of more powerful events, scientists say.