Hurricane Erin on Wednesday grew in size as it made its way up into the Atlantic off the U.S. East Coast with tropical-storm conditions forecast to hit North Carolina and dangerous surf left

The first Atlantic hurricane of the season is forecast to bring heavy rain and life-threatening surf and rip currents to the U.S. East Coast this week.

Hurricane Erin changed its path unexpectedly and is heading towards the US East Coast with Category 2 strength.After hitting the Caribbean with 130 mph winds and heavy rain that caused widespread power outages in Puerto Rico,

On Wednesday morning, Hurricane Erin was several hundred miles off the coast of Florida and beginning to push storm surge and deadly rip currents toward the shore. Two other systems may form right

Dozens of people have been rescued from rip currents as Hurricane Erin churns up the Eastern seaboard. Authorities said about 60 people have been rescued from rip currents at Wrightsville Beach, N.C., according to the Wilmington Star-News and NBC affiliate WRAL-TV .

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

Most of Erin’s intensification occurred during a 12- to 15-hour window overnight, according to Dan Pydynowski, a meteorologist at AccuWeather. By 5 p.m. Friday, Erin’s winds had remained only 75 mph.

While Erin is expected to take a northward turn in the Atlantic, a new system off the coast of Africa has the National Hurricane Center's attention.