Officials have ordered evacuations of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands even without a hurricane warning because that tiny ribbon of highway called N.C. 12 will likely be torn up and washed out in several places,

Dangerous coastal impacts from Hurricane Erin will peak along the East Coast on Wednesday and Thursday as the storm passes offshore.

Holly Andrzejewski hadn’t yet welcomed her and her family’s first guests to the Atlantic Inn on Hatteras Island when she had to start rescheduling them, as Hurricane Erin neared North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Tuesday and threatened to whip up wild waves and tropical force winds.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm Monday morning and is expected to retain major hurricane status through the middle of the week.