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

Storms that ramp up so quickly complicate forecasting and make it harder for government agencies to plan for emergencies. Hurricane Erick, a Pacific storm that made landfall June 19 in Oaxaca, Mexico, also strengthened rapidly, doubling in intensity in less than a day.

Officials in the northern Caribbean are warning of heavy rains and dangerous swells as Tropical Storm Erin approaches the region.

Hurricane Erin rapidly intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 5 cyclone as it stayed safely north of the Caribbean islands over the weekend.

A Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas cruise from Baltimore to Bermuda will now head to Florida in order to avoid Tropical Storm Erin.

Hurricane Erin is likely to restrengthen again as it passes east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas on Monday after lashing the Caribbean with damaging winds and flooding rain.

Erin is a strong Category 3 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. ET update Sunday, with sustained winds of 125 mph and tropical storm-force winds reaching out 205 miles. The storm is just over 300 miles northwest of Puerto Rico as of Sunday evening.