While the category 4 storm is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. east coast, it will have an impact nonetheless. Dangerous high surf and rip currents are expected from Florida to New England throughout the week.

Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect in parts of North Carolina as the US East Coast braces for life-threatening rip currents from Hurricane Erin.

The Outer Banks in North Carolina are under evacuation warning as Hurricane Erin whips up potentially 20-foot high waves and flooding along the east coast.

Additional strengthening is expected as the storm is forecast to “remain a large and dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Erin is forecast to curve north-northeast between the US East Coast and Bermuda this week, remaining out over the water but growing even larger in size. The hurricane’s influence will be felt not through direct landfall, but through water: large, pounding surf, dangerous currents and coastal flooding during high tides.

Mandatory evacuations are underway on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, as Hurricane Erin approaches. Coastal flooding and massive waves could leave roads impassable for days.

Hurricane Erin began pelting part of the Caribbean with rain and wind Monday before it's expected to churn up dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week.

Hurricane Erin, the first major hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, rapidly intensified Friday night, with the storm now reaching Category 5 strength with sustained winds of 160 mph.