WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote Thursday on social media, “Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

A social media post from U.S. Southern Command on the capture said that Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to make the capture while Noem’s post noted that, like in previous raids, a U.S. Coast Guard tactical team conducted the boarding and seizure.

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products, and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

Noem, in her social media post, said that the raid was carried out with “close coordination with our colleagues” in the military as well as the State and Justice departments.

“Our heroic Coast Guard men and women once again ensured a flawlessly executed operation, in accordance with international law,” Noem added.

As with prior posts, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump’s Republican administration have made clear they see it as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Last week, Trump met with executives from oil companies to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

A meteorologist tried to throw down with a hurricane and ended up throwing up.

Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist for The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang, was caught on camera vomiting while flying through the eye of Hurricane Melissa.

Cappucci was interviewed by CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday and shared the gross footage — but Burnett pointed out that he had a good reason for allowing CNN to air it.

“I know that you got sick on the flight,” Burnet said. “I mean, it was that horrifically turbulent, even though you’ve done this before. You did record that so everyone could understand just the severity of this.”

Cappucci described the experience as being “very reminiscent of a roller coaster at night.”

“If you’ve ever been on Space Mountain at Disney World, you sort of know how it is,” Cappucci said. “You know it’s dark, you don’t know if you’re going up, down, left or right. You’re jostled all about, to and fro.”

Though Cappucci may have shared the footage to emphasize the severity of the storm, he still clearly knows how awkward the footage comes off, because he poked fun at himself on X Monday.

“Puking on national TV. I think my television career has peaked,” he quipped.

He added in the comments of his X post: “Also rest assured I was fine 5 minutes later. I knew what I was into and it was worth it 10 fold. 😂”

During his appearance on CNN, Cappucci explained that after “10 crazy minutes with the turbulence,” it suddenly becomes “calm” once you reach the eye of the storm.

“And I have to say, that was one of the most breathtaking and simultaneously horrifying experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. “Even though it was night, the moon was illuminating what we call the stadium effect. Basically, you’re right in the middle of this atmospheric sink drain, and yet you look up, all around you, 360 degrees, towering, hulking thunderstorms overhead, spiraling around, marking that eyewall.”

Cappucci did make sure to add to CNN that Hurricane Melissa was more than just a surreal weather experience.

In the wake of the storm, “it will be very difficult for Jamaica to avert a potentially significant humanitarian crisis,” Cappucci said. “And I’ve covered many storms. I’ve seen high-end hurricanes before, but it’s very rare that we get a hurricane of this magnitude heading to a place that has 2.8 million people there.”

Hurricane Melissa roared into Jamaica with 185 mph winds on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm — and was one of the region’s strongest storms on record, The Associated Press reported. As it shifted to a Category 3 storm, it made landfall in Cuba and Haiti on Wednesday morning and caused “significant damage,” CNN said.

Although it’s unclear how bad the aftermath of the storm is yet, officials in Haiti said about 20 people were killed overnight due to flooding, and three bodies were recovered in Jamaica, The New York Times reports. Melissa has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm as it heads toward the Bahamas.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Erin exploded in strength to a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean on Saturday, rapidly powering up from a tropical storm in a single day, the National Hurricane Center said.

While the compact hurricane’s center wasn’t expected to strike land, it threatened to dump flooding rains on the northeast Caribbean as it continued to grow larger.

The first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, Erin ramped up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. By late Saturday morning, its maximum sustained winds more than doubled to 160 mph (255 kph).

Mike Brennen, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Erin had grown into a “very powerful hurricane.” He said its winds gained 60 mph (96 kph) in intensity within about nine hours Saturday.

“We expect to see Erin peak here in intensity relatively soon,” Brennan said in an online briefing.

The Hurricane Center said Erin should weaken somewhat late Saturday or early Sunday as the storm encounters increased wind shear and possibly takes in more dry air. However, forecasters predict it will remain a major hurricane until midweek.

The hurricane was located 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of Anguilla at 2 p.m. Saturday, moving west at 16 mph (26 kph). The storm’s center was forecast to remain at sea, passing 145 miles (233 kilometers) north of Puerto Rico, according to the National Weather Service.

Erin was close enough to affect nearby islands. Tropical storm watches were issued for St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten. The Hurricane Center warned that heavy rain in some areas could trigger flash flooding, landslides and mudslides.

Tropical-storm force wind gusts are possible in the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeast Bahamas.

Though compact in size, with hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles (45 km) from its center, the Hurricane Center said Erin was expected to double or even triple in size in the coming days.

Erin could create powerful rip currents off the U.S. East Coast from Florida to the mid-Atlantic next week, even with its eye forecast to remain far offshore, Brennan said.

Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said Erin gained strength at a pace that was “incredible for any time of year, let alone August 16th.”

Lowry said only four other Category 5 hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic on or before Aug

The most powerful storms tend to form later in the year, with the hurricane season typically peaking in mid-September.

In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma rocketed from a tropical storm to a Category 5 storm in less than 24 hours, according to National Hurricane Center advisories from that time. Wilma weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before striking Florida.

Including Erin, there have been 43 hurricanes that have reached Category 5 status on record in the Atlantic, said Dan Pydynowski, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private forecasting company.

“They’re certainly rare, although this would mark the fourth year in a row that we’ve had one in the Atlantic basin,” Pydynowski said about Category 5 hurricanes. Conditions needed for hurricanes to reach this strength include very warm ocean water, little to no wind shear, and being far from land, he said.

Scientists have linked rapid intensification of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean to climate change. Global warming is causing the atmosphere to hold more water vapor and is spiking ocean temperatures. The warmer waters give hurricanes fuel to unleash more rain and strengthen more quickly.

Storms that ramp up so quickly complicate forecasting for meteorologists and make it harder for government agencies to plan for emergencies. Hurricane Erick, a Pacific storm that made landfall June 19 in Oaxaca, Mexico, also strengthened rapidly, doubling in intensity in less than a day.

Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. It’s the first to become a hurricane.

The 2025 hurricane season is expected to be unusually busy. The forecast calls for six to 10 hurricanes, with three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph).

In San Juan, locals and tourists walked, exercised and shopped on Saturday as usual. Restaurants were busy, and despite warnings to avoid the beaches, people could be seen in the water at Ultimo Trolley and Ocean Park beaches. Puerto Rican parents, however, kept their children from swimming.

Sarahí Torres and Joanna Cornejo, visiting San Juan from California for a Bad Bunny concert, said they decided to go to the beach and wade into the water because the skies appeared calm.

“The weather looked fine, so we came out,” Torres said.

The U.S. government deployed more than 200 employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to Puerto Rico as a precaution. Puerto Rico Housing Secretary Ciary Pérez Peña said 367 shelters were inspected and ready to open if needed.

Meanwhile, officials in the Bahamas said they prepared some public shelters as a precaution as they urged people to track the hurricane.

“These storms are very volatile and can make sudden shifts in movement,” said Aarone Sargent, managing director for the Bahamas’ disaster risk management authority.

Associated Press reporters Isabella O’Malley in Philadelphia and Ivelisse Rivera in San Juan contributed. Bynum reported from Savannah. Georgia.