Lifeguards and fire rescue crews in Hollywood Beach are on alert as red warning flags and safety signs go up, urging visitors to avoid the water altogether.

Hurricane Erin is moving east of the U.S. coast as a major storm and will bring strong waves and rip currents to Florida's east coast – and it comes as the National Hurricane Center is eyeing two more tropical waves in the Atlantic.

Hurricane Erin on Monday bulked back up, but then dropped back down, although still a major Category 3 storm as it moved near the Bahamas with an increasing wind field that prompted new tropical

Forecasts nudge Erin's likely path to the west, increasing the risks at U.S. beaches. Experts say the storm's massive size, rather than its windspeeds, is what makes it a threat.