Additional strengthening is expected as the storm is forecast to “remain a large and dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Erin prompts evacuations of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands as NC braces for life-threatening coastal flooding. Follow Newsweek's live blog.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm again Monday morning and is expected to grow even larger and stronger, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Although Erin is forecast to move north between the U.S. and Bermuda, life-threatening surf and rip currents are likely across the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada.

Charley roared ashore near Cayo Costa, Florida, or west of Fort Myers, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 mph on the afternoon of Aug. 13, 2004. The intensification of Charley prior to landfall was a worst-case scenario since nearly eight hours earlier over the eastern Gulf, it was a Category 2 with 110 mph winds.