Thousands of people were evacuated off parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks amid the threat of a storm surge. Meanwhile, beaches remained off limits along the East Coast as dangerous waves and rip currents slammed shorelines.

Much of the North Carolina coast, including the Outer Banks, is under tropical storm and storm surge warnings as Hurricane Erin churns as a Category 2 storm.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph as it made its closest approach to the U.S.