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Tropical Storm Erin expected to become season's first hurricane by Friday
Sweeping through the Atlantic Ocean, Erin is heading toward Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is forecast to become a 'large and formidable major hurricane ' as soon as Friday, the National Hurricane Center said in a Thursday night advisory.
The tropical storm is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane on Friday and then 'rapidly intensify' into a Category 3 hurricane by Saturday afternoon, Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather's lead hurricane expert, said in a statement Thursday.
'There is a window of opportunity where Erin could explode into a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic,' DaSilva warned.
Heavy rains and flash floods could ravage the islands this weekend and into next week, the National Hurricane Center predicted.
On Thursday night, Erin was 690 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, with maximum sustained winds whipping at 70 mph.
NOAA aircraft data indicates Erin is 'near hurricane strength,' the hurricane center warned Thursday evening.
A tropical storm watch was in effect for Anguilla and Barbuda, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, Saba and St. Eustatius, and Sint Maarten.
The storm killed at least nine people this week in Cape Verde's island of Sao Vicente, where torrential rains, strong winds, and flash floods slammed the area, according to a report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Five people were missing and 1,500 people were displaced due to the storm. The government declared a state of emergency.
In preparation for when the hurricane makes landfall, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he was deploying resources from his home state to Puerto Rico.
'I just approved the deployment of California resources to Puerto Rico ahead of Tropical Storm Erin,' he wrote in a statement shared to social media on Thursday evening. 'We're glad to help coordinate life-saving response to Americans in harm's way.'
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also said it 'stands ready to support local officials in Puerto Rico & the U.S.V.I. who are leading the preparation & response efforts as Tropical Storm #Erin threatens to impact the islands.'
The agency wrote in a statement: 'Our teams are on the ground and staging resources, including generators ahead of the storm.'
Erin is the fifth storm named this hurricane season, which spans from June 1 through November 30.
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