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.

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.

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.

Hurricane Erin is pelting parts of the Caribbean and is forecast to create dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.

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 Caribbean islands.

The hurricane’s behavior in recent days makes it one of the fastest-strengthening Atlantic hurricanes on record.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.