The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two disturbances in the Atlantic—the first poised to approach the northern Leeward Islands later this week and the second near the Cabo Verde Islands—while Hurricane Erin, now a Category 3, heads away from the Caribbean.

It quickly powered up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in a single day, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Erin's massive footprint battered Caribbean islands with heavy gusts and downpours Monday, as it threatened rip currents and flooding along the US East Coast later this week even without a predicted landfall.