Island communities off the coast of North Carolina are bracing for flooding ahead of Hurricane Erin, the year’s first Atlantic hurricane.

While the category 4 storm is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. east coast, it will have an impact nonetheless. Dangerous high surf and rip currents are expected from Florida to New England throughout the week.

Early Monday, the storm strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph as it approached the southeastern Bahamas, the NHC reported.

The storm will remain a major hurricane through the middle of the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Erin has undergone a period of astonishingly rapid intensification — a phenomenon that has become far more common in recent years as the planet warms. It was a rare Category 5 on Saturday before weakening,

Hurricane Erin briefly strengthened into a Category 5 storm. It is not expected to make a direct hit on the U.S. but will create dangerous surf.

Though Hurricane Erin is expected to continue moving out to sea, the Steamship Authority on Monday released a travel advisory.

Residents in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos on Monday braced for the Atlantic season's first hurricane, the Category 4 Erin, after it strengthened over the weekend while sweeping past the Caribbean.