The already sprawling storm will grow larger as it hurls the ocean toward the East Coast and Bermuda, and it could have company this week.

Two more tropical systems trail Hurricane Erin, which is following a projected course that brushes past the East Coast without making landfall.

By Tuesday morning, Erin had lost some strength from previous days and dropped to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

On Monday at 5:10 p.m. the NWS Newport/Morehead City NC issued a tropical cyclone statement in effect until Tuesday at 1:15 a.m. The statement is for East Carteret, Northern Outer Banks, Ocracoke Island and Hatteras Island.

Forecasters are tracking three systems in the Atlantic basin, including one with a medium chance of becoming a tropical depression later this week.

Hurricane Erin chugged slowly toward the eastern U.S. coast Tuesday, stirring up treacherous waves that already have forced dozens of beach rescues days before the biggest storm surges are expected. While forecasters remain confident the center of the monster storm will remain far offshore,

(Reuters) -Hurricane Erin has re-intensified into a category 4 storm on Sunday after completing an eyewall replacement cycle, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center warning of life-threatening surf and rip currents along the U.