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

Hurricane Erin is a sprawling Category 4 storm churning in the Atlantic Monday after exploding in strength at a historic rate this weekend. The storm’s enormous footprint is becoming the biggest concern.

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.

The Atlantic basin includes the northern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of America, as the Gulf of Mexico is now known in the U.S. per an order from President Trump. NOAA and the National Hurricane Center are now using Gulf of America on its maps and in its advisories.

In recent decades, the Atlantic has been warming at record rates, helping hurricanes explode into powerhouses.

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.

Some beaches in the Delaware Valley have prohibited swimming as a precaution as Hurricane Erin moves closer to the East Coast.