Local officials say they only order evacuations ahead of hurricanes when it’s necessary to protect the public.

Rip currents are the third leading cause of deaths from hurricanes, and they can happen on a sunny day hundreds of miles from the storm.

Hurricane Erin is maintaining its strength as a major hurricane, churning in the Atlantic Ocean and delivering tropical storm force winds to Turks and Caicos and parts of the Bahamas. Erin’s influence will be increasingly felt along the tri-state area’s coastline during the latter half of the week.

Hurricane Erin on Monday bulked back up as a major Category 4 storm with an increasing wind field as it moved near the Bahamas. Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center increased the odds a system

Hurricane Erin is a huge Category 4 storm and is expected to both grow larger and stronger today as it moves toward the west-northwest. The center of the storm is expected to remain offshore as it moves between the U.S. and Bermuda.

While the category 4 storm is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. east coast, it will have an impact nonetheless. Dangerous high surf and rip currents are expected from Florida to New England throughout the week.

Erin strengthened again Monday as it began pelting part of the Caribbean with rain and wind before it’s expected to create dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service of New Orleans said Monday that tropical activity is not expected across south Louisiana for at least the next 10 days.