H urricane Erin, now a Category 2 hurricane, has prompted a tropical storm watch for North Carolina's Outer Banks and is expected to bring dangerous waves and rip currents to beaches along the East Coast. While the storm won't make landfall on the East Coast, it has prompted mandatory evacuations for some Outer Banks residents and visitors.

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.

Meteorologists are closely tracking the projected path and forecast of Hurricane Erin, which is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year.