Joaquin strengthens to hurricane as it threatens Bahamas, East Coast

The government of the Bahamas has issued a hurricane warning, according to the National Hurricane Center, which stated on Wednesday that Joaquin,formerly a tropical storm, has strengthened into the third hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season.

Joaquin, now a category 1 hurricane located about 245 miles (395 km) east-northeast of the central Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), is expected to move near or over portions of the central Bahamas on Wednesday night and Thursday, the NHC said.

The NHC claimed that potentially life-threatening swells generated by Joaquin will affect portions of the east coast of Florida and the southeast coast of the United States by Friday.

North Carolina’s WTKR claimed that Joaquin could strengthen to a category 2 hurricane by Friday when, due to strong winds and rough surf, the East Coast could start seeing major flood threats after receiving 4 to 6 inches of rain over the next several days.

For now, it’s not certain where the storm could potentially affect the coastal United States, claimed William Babcock, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, according to a Joaquin report in the Boston Globe.

“It could go to the mid-Atlantic coast. It could go out to sea; it could go anywhere in between,” he said in the Globe.