Hurricane Erin is forcing evacuations on North Carolina’s Outer Banks as it churns in the Atlantic where high winds and heavy rain are pelting the Turks and Caicos Islands and parts of the Bahamas.

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

While hundreds of residents and tourists evacuated North Carolina’s Outerbanks on Tuesday, others got caught in some of the earliest flooding from Hurricane Erin. The combination of the storm and high tide sent waves surging into homes, hotels and Highway 12 - the only way in and out of those islands.

Conditions along the coast are expected to deteriorate Wednesday as Hurricane Erin moves north-northwest off Florida.