Heavy rains were forecast to start late Friday in Antigua and Barbuda, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and southern and eastern Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Erin, now a Category 3 storm, is expected to strengthen and become a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 150-mph.

Erin is the Atlantic season's first hurricane and is set to escalate over the weekend though the threat of direct impacts in the Bahamas and along the east coast of the US appears to be receding.