Hurricane Erin stirs up strong winds and floods part of a NC highway as it slowly moves out to sea

A man smokes a cigarette at the end of Jennette's Pier as waves from Hurricane Erin crash ashore in Nags Head, N.C., on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes as the monster storm slowly began to move away from the East Coast on Thursday.

Forecasters predicted the storm would peak Thursday and said it could regain strength and once again become a major hurricane, Category 3 or greater, but it was not forecast to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea.

Tropical storm conditions were in effect over parts of the Outer Banks and the coast of Virginia, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. In Bermuda, residents and tourists were told to stay out of the water with rough seas expected through Friday.