Even more significant is Erin’s massive size. Forecasters say hurricane-force winds are now stretching out as far as 105 miles from Erin’s center, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward to 265 miles.

Hurricane Erin has weakened slightly into a Category 2 hurricane but is forecast to "substantially grow in size" as it moves over the western Atlantic Ocean through the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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