The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is urging residents to report sightings of the nonvenomous rainbow snake, a semi-aquatic species in decline that feeds primarily on dwindling American eels.

Hurricane Erin became a catastrophic Category 5 storm before noon on Saturday, Aug. 16, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Erin's maximum sustained winds are 160 mph – a Category 5 hurricane is one with winds of 157 mph or higher.

As Hurricane Erin tracks northward in the Atlantic, its broad wind field is expected to churn up rough seas and dangerous rip currents along Florida’s east coast this week, forecasters and county officials warned.