Hurricane Erin weakens but still threatens US coast

Hurricane Erin weakened to Category 2 on Tuesday but continues to threaten part of the US East Coast with life-threatening flooding, forecasters said.

The storm, which underwent historically rapid intensification and briefly peaked at Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, swamped homes and roads in the US island territory of Puerto Rico.

Although its core is projected to remain far offshore, meteorologists remain concerned by Erin's large size, with tropical-storm-force winds extending hundreds of miles from its core.

In an afternoon update, the US National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Warnings were no longer in place for the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands, but remain in place for parts of North Carolina.

Erin was several hundred miles southeast of North Carolina and winding its way north-northwest.

"This means there's the danger of life-threatening inundation of two to four feet of inundation above ground level," NHC director Michael Brennan said.

He added there was "potential for destructive wave action on top of that storm surge, that could result in severe beach and coastal damage," making coastal roads impassable.

A broader swath of coastline, from North Carolina to southern Virginia, is under a lower-grade Tropical Storm Watch.

US media reported dozens of people have had to be rescued from dangerous rip currents, surges of water that run against the tide.

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has now entered its historical peak.

Despite a relatively quiet start with just four named storms so far, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) continues to forecast an "above-normal" season.

NHC is tracking two more "disturbances" tailing Erin -- the first with a 60 percent chance of forming into a cyclone over the next week, and a second with a 30 percent chance.

Scientists say that climate change is supercharging tropical cyclones: warmer oceans fuel stronger winds, a warmer atmosphere intensifies rainfall, and higher sea levels magnify storm surge.

There is also some evidence, though less certain, that climate change is making hurricanes more frequent.