The monster storm intensified to a Category 4 with 140 mph (225 kph) maximum sustained winds early Monday while it started to lash the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm again Monday morning and is expected to grow even larger and stronger, Life-threatening surf and rip currents are likely across the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada.

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