Hurricane Irma 'Rapidly Intensifying' In Atlantic Ocean

As people across Texas and Louisiana begin the recovery  from Hurricane Harvey, another dangerous storm has the potential to hit the U.S. coast.

Hurricane Irma was upgraded to Category 3 storm on Thursday night, the National Hurricane Center said. Irma has wind speeds of up to 115 mph  and is expected to be “extremely dangerous” for the next several days, the center said.

Although it’s too early to determine the exact route that Irma will take, forecasts show the storm heading for Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. 

“Steering winds will guide Irma close to the Leeward Islands and then perhaps Puerto Rico and Hispaniola around the middle of next week,” AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Thompson said.

Land areas won’t be in any immediate danger until next week as the storm moves westward, according to Weather.com.

“At the very least, there will be an increase in surf in the northeastern Caribbean early next week,” Thompson said.