The hurricane center warned that heavy rain in some areas could trigger flash flooding, landslides and mudslides.

Hurricane Erin exploded in strength to a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean on Saturday, rapidly powering up from a tropical storm in a single day, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The rain and winds from the outer bands of the storm left about 147,000 customers without power Sunday morning in Puerto Rico, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees the transmissi...