Updated August 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM CDT
Hurricane Erin is slowly moving away from the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, but not before grazing North Carolina, where the storm cut off some road access in the Outer Banks and brought rain, storm surge and dangerous rip currents to coastal communities in the state.
In its 8 p.m. ET advisory on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said the center of the Category 2 storm was packing sustained winds of 100 miles per hour, and was about 420 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
A storm surge warning remained in effect from Cape Lookout to Duck, N.C., indicating a life-threatening risk of coastal flooding from rising waters. A tropical storm warning has been issued for Bermuda. The tropical storm warning extending from Duck, N.C., to Chincoteague, Va., was discontinued, the NHC said.
Thursday evening's high tide was bringing another round of flooding to parts of the Outer Banks, the National Weather Service office in Newport/Morehead City said.
Despite not making landfall, forecasters have pointed out that Erin's unusual size — with tropical-storm-force winds affecting a more than 600-mile diameter area in the storm's path — is unusual.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Thursday warned that dangerous rip currents and coastal flooding will occur through the weekend. "With flooding peaking tonight, please avoid driving on roads with standing water. We are actively monitoring the situation and remain ready to respond to any needs," he said in a statement.
The Outer Banks is a vulnerable stretch of barrier islands that jut into the Atlantic, but it's no stranger to hurricanes. Huge waves lapped at beachfront homes built on stilts and the ferry connection between Ocracoke Island and the mainland was cut off.
The Island Free Press, which covers the Outer Banks, reported that Thursday morning's high tide brought "extreme ocean overwash" to northern Buxton, the north of Hatteras Village, and northern Ocracoke Island. It said flooding had also inundated Hatteras Village.
"It's pretty par for the course living out here," Leslie Coleman, a resident of the Outer Banks, was quoted by WAVY as saying. "It's certainly not one of the worst storms we've seen, but it's got the waves coming up a little higher, eating at a little bit of our dunes."
In a post on Facebook Thursday morning, Tideland Electric Membership Corporation, a co-op that provides power to the Outer Banks, said there was no loss of electricity to Ocracoke as a result of the storm. "Our crews are making their way to the north end of the island to inspect our infrastructure," it said.
More than 2,000 people — residents and vacationers — heeded evacuation orders for Ocracoke and Hatteras islands earlier.
The storm surge breached protective sand dunes overnight, cutting off Highway 12, the only main road out. "Deep sand, water and debris continue to cover the roadway," Dare County's government said in a social media post on Thursday morning.
The National Weather Service is warning of an ongoing storm surge up to 4 feet high in the Outer Banks for Thursday night.
Melinda Meadows, property manager at the Cape Hatteras Motel in Buxton, told WRAL that a few heat pumps have washed away and most of the sand barriers have disappeared.
It's been less than a year since North Carolina endured Hurricane Helene, one of the most devastating hurricanes in its modern history, which tore through the western part of the state. Helene caused at least 250 deaths.
The effects of Erin were being felt farther north. Wind gusts with tropical storm force are likely in the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast through early Friday, forecasters said.
Erin's strong winds are producing large and dangerous waves and hazardous surf conditions, with rip currents highly likely along most of the East Coast.
Despite warnings to stay out of the water, at Queens, New York's Rockaway Beach, surfer Scott Klossner was enjoying the monster swell. "You wait all year round for these waves. This is what you wait for all year. This is it," he told The Associated Press.
The NHC says Erin is now turning northeast, away from the East Coast, and increasing its forward momentum, moving over the western Atlantic between the U.S. and Bermuda through Friday. Forecasters say it will gradually weaken during the next couple of days before falling below the threshold for a tropical storm by Saturday.
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