SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Erin exploded in strength to a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean on Saturday, rapidly ...

While the hurricane’s center wasn’t expected to hit land, it threatened to dump flooding rains in the Caribbean.

Mike Brennen, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Erin had swiftly grown into a “very powerful hurricane,” racing from maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kph) to 160 mph (257 ...