Hurricane Erin, which is the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season and has developed into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, moves westward near Puerto Rico in a composite satellite image on Aug. 16, 2025. CIRA/NOAA/Handout via Reuters
Dare County, a small coastal county nearly surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in North Carolina, declared a state of emergency Sunday before the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced that Category 3 Hurricane Erin had intensified back to a Category 4.
In an 11 p.m. update on Sunday, the NHC reported observing increased wind speeds near 115 mph, pushing Erin back up to a Category 4 hurricane. By 2 a.m., sustained wind speeds had increased further to 130 mph.
