A heat advisory has been issued for the Dallas-Fort Worth area and points east, as a powerful and rapidly intensifying Hurricane Erin churns in the Caribbean.

Officials in the northern Caribbean are warning of heavy rains and dangerous swells as Tropical Storm Erin approaches the region.

Powerful Hurricane Erin has undergone a period of astonishingly rapid intensification — a phenomenon that has become far more common in recent years as the planet warms. It was a rare Category 5 for a time Saturday before becoming a Category 4,