Island communities off the coast of North Carolina are bracing for flooding ahead of the year’s first Atlantic hurricane, Hurricane Erin. Although forecasters are confident that the storm won’t make direct landfall in the United States,

Parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks are under mandatory evacuation orders, as the National Hurricane Center warns that Hurricane Erin could bring tall waves topping 15 to 20 feet.

The New Hanover County sea community of Wrightsville Beach — just east of Wilmington — announced drastic measures to close the town’s beach to swimming ahead of Hurricane Erin.

The first hurricane of 2025 in the Atlantic continued to track north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, hitting those islands with heavy rain and gusty winds. Erin is expected to move away from the islands later today and begin to curve more to the north.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm again Monday morning and is expected to grow even larger and stronger, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Although Erin is forecast to move north between the U.S. and Bermuda, life-threatening surf and rip currents are likely across the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada.