Hurricane Lee has become a “dangerous” Category 5 storm over the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced late Thursday.

An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter found that the hurricane “skyrocketed” to the high end of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale during the day with sustained maximum winds of 160 miles per hour, the federal agency explained in an 11 p.m. ET discussion post.

The storm is expected to maintain a “steady” track to the west-northwest, passing “well to the north” of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico over the next five days, NHC said.

During that period, Lee may slightly diminish to Category 4 status, which would still keep it as a major hurricane with the potential for “catastrophic” damage, according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Lee, now a category five hurricane with winds of 160 mph, is still expected to turn north before reaching the U.S. East Coast next week. pic.twitter.com/wRk5uHo5YR

— James Spann (@spann) September 8, 2023

Afterward, the track for Hurricane Lee becomes far less certain, as is often the case with extended forecasts.

“Although there are some indications that Lee might begin a northward turn around the middle of next week, it is still way [too] soon to focus on specific model scenarios that far out into the future,” NHC said.

Some computer models indicated on Thursday that Hurricane Lee could threaten to directly impact, if not make landfall, over the Mid-Atlantic, New England, or Canada. Another possibility is that the storm gets steered away from the U.S.

#BREAKING: CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE #LEE. 160 MPH WINDS. #TropicalUpdate 🌀 pic.twitter.com/wN6wIOU8K6

— Dylan Federico (@DylanFedericoWX) September 8, 2023

“Dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents are likely in the northern Leeward Islands beginning Friday. These conditions will spread westward and northward, affecting Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and Bermuda through the weekend,” the NHC said as one of its “key messages” in its 11 p.m. post.

“It is way too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the U.S. East Coast, Atlantic Canada, or Bermuda late next week, particularly since the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic,” NHC said in another message. “Regardless, dangerous surf and rip currents are expected along most of the U.S.  East Coast beginning Sunday. Continue to monitor updates to Lee’s forecast during the next several days.”

The Weather Channel also emphasized the uncertainty in the longterm forecast, but warned “Bermuda, the northeast U.S. coast and Atlantic Canada should monitor the forecast closely.”

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The Atlantic hurricane season, which stretches from June 1 to November 30, is currently at its peak. Lee is the first Category 5 hurricane since last season. Tropical Storm Margot has formed over the eastern Atlantic Ocean, and so far the NHC forecast calls for it stay out to sea as it becomes a hurricane.

Another hurricane named Idalia slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast last week, causing flooding, power outages, and at least two deaths.

A Minnesota DFL Party official who championed defunding the police during the George Floyd riots has since changed her position after being violently attacked this week.

Shivanthi Sathanandan, the Second Vice Chairwoman for the DFL, posted an image of her bloodied face from the attack on Tuesday, explaining that she was carjacked at her home while her children were present.

“Four very young men, all carrying guns, beat me violently down to the ground in front of our kids,” she wrote in a Facebook post that included a photo she took of herself. “The young men held our neighbors up at gunpoint when they ran over and tried to help me. All in broad daylight.”

“Look at my face in the picture. This is the face of a mother who just had the s[***] beaten out of her. A mother whose only thought was, ‘let me run far enough and fight hard enough so that my kids have a chance to get away,'” she continued. “This is the face of a mother who just listened to her four year old daughter screaming non-stop, her 7 year old son wailing for someone to come help because bad guys are murdering his Mama in the back yard, her neighbors screaming in outrage… all while being beaten with guns and kicks and fists.”

She said that she has a broken leg, deep lacerations on her head, and bruising and cuts all over her body.

“And I have rage,” she said. “These men knew what they were doing. I have NO DOUBT they have done this before. Yet they are still on OUR STREETS. Killing mothers. Giving babies psychological trauma that a lifetime of therapy cannot erase. With no hesitation and no remorse.”

“I’m now part of the statistics. I wasn’t silent when I fought these men to save my life and my babies, and I won’t be silent now,” she continued. “We need to get illegal guns off of our streets, catch these young people who are running wild creating chaos across our city and HOLD THEM IN CUSTODY AND PROSECUTE THEM. PERIOD.”

“Look at my face. REMEMBER ME when you are thinking about supporting letting juveniles and young people out of custody to roam our streets instead of HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS,” she added.

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She then thanked law enforcement and declared: “These criminals will not win. We need to take back our city. And this will not be the last you hear from me about this.”

Minneapolis, MN:

Carjackings continues to afflict the city; this week DFL 2nd Vice Chairwoman Shivanthi Sathanandan was violently attacked and carjacked in front of her children in the driveway of her MPLS home in broad daylight.

She says she suffered a broken leg, deep… pic.twitter.com/83b2RJuF0D

— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) September 7, 2023

As noted by the New York Post, Sathanandan called for defunding the police back in 2020.

“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police department. Say it with me,” she wrote on Facebook at the time. “DISMANTLE The Minneapolis Police Department.”

In a separate post, she praised the Minneapolis School Board for pulling police officers out of the schools.

“MPD should have no place in our children’s schools,” she wrote.