Residents across North Carolina’s Outer Banks and coast braced for flooding from storm surge and powerful winds Wednesday as Hurricane Erin churned hundreds of miles away in the Atlantic Ocean.

On Wednesday, Hurricane Erin was several hundred miles off the coast of Florida and beginning to push storm surge and deadly rip currents toward the shore. Two other systems may form right behind.

Hurricane Erin is strengthening again and forecasters say it could re-intensify into a major hurricane. The storm is creeping toward the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City.

The Category 2 hurricane saw its winds weaken to as low as 100 mph on Aug. 19 as its north side battled winds, but the National Hurricane Center said early on Aug. 20 that the storm had reformed an inner eye wall, and a Hurricane Hunter mission this morning is expected to help the center determine if winds have increased in response.

Narragansett Fire Department officials are preparing for the possibility of water rescues as the impacts of Hurricane Erin could bring high surf of up to 15 feet at the end of the week.

As Hurricane Erin​ hovered over the Atlantic Ocean, the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season​ was spotted from above by cameras on the ISS.