Hurricane Earl heads for US after hitting Caribbean

Hurricane Earl battered tiny islands across the northeastern Caribbean with heavy rain and roof-ripping winds on Monday, rapidly intensifying into a major Category 4 storm on a path projected to menace the United States. Already dangerous with sustained winds of 135 miles per hour (215 km per hour), Earl is expected to gain more strength before potentially brushing the US East Coast this week and bringing deadly rip currents. In the Caribbean, Earl caused flooding in low-lying areas and damaged homes on islands including Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla and St. Maarten. The rapid development of Earl, which only became a hurricane on Sunday, took some islanders and tourists by surprise.