Hurricane Kirk is strengthening into a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic and is expected to strengthen rapidly

Hurricane Kirk strengthened into a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday and was expected to quickly strengthen into a major hurricane, forecasters said.

There were no coast guards or warnings and the storm system was not yet considered a threat to the country. However, meteorologists warned on Thursday that “large waves” could reach the US East Coast by Sunday.

Kirk reached Category 3 status on Wednesday, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said. The storm spread approximately 1,850 kilometers east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles and reached a maximum sustained wind speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

It was moving northwest at a speed of 12 miles per hour. A gradual turn to the north-northwest and then north was expected this week.

Waves caused by the storm could affect parts of the Leeward Islands and Bermuda through the weekend, likely leading to “life-threatening” surf and rip current conditions, the center said.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Leslie formed late Wednesday in the eastern Atlantic and could become a hurricane by the weekend, forecasters said.

There were no coast guards or warnings and the storm system was not yet considered a threat to the country.

The storm was located 490 miles southwest of the southernmost tip of the Cape Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour, the hurricane center said.

The storms came as many people in the southeastern United States still lacked access to running water, cell service and electricity as rescuers searched for missing people Hurricane Helene struck last week and left a trail of death and catastrophic damage.

More than 180 people died one of the deadliest storms in the history of the USA. At least 186 deaths have been confirmed in several states as of Thursday morning, according to a CBS News tally.

President Biden traveled to the Carolinas on Wednesday for an aerial tour of the extensive damage caused by the storm. Vice President Kamala Harris was in Georgia to receive a briefing on emergency response efforts following the storm’s devastation there.