The storm will remain a major hurricane through the middle of the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

BEAUMONT, Texas — Tropical Storm Erin is moving quickly westward across the Atlantic Ocean and could strengthen into a hurricane by late Thursday, prompting the National Hurricane Center to advise residents of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to monitor the storm's progress.

Tropical Storm Erin is approaching Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, bringing heavy rains that could cause flooding and landslides

The outer bands of powerful Hurricane Erin lashed Puerto Rico, and the storm is approaching the Bahamas next. What can the mainland U.S. expect?

While a Gulf disturbance that moved into Texas on Friday seems to have run its course, Hurricane Erin in the western Atlantic intensifies.

Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph as its outer bands pounded the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with gusty winds and heavy rains early Sunday.

Tropical Storm Erin -- which is forecast to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season by Saturday morning -- won't have a direct impact on the U.S., but it will bring dangerous rip currents to the East Coast.

Even when they don't brush the coast or make landfall, such storms can be deadly and cause millions of dollars of damage. Erin is expected to remain hundreds of miles offshore, according to the National Hurricane Center,