Hurricane Erin has triggered a state of emergency in North Carolina, where residents and visitors along the Outer Banks are under evacuation orders.

Hurricane Erin is moving northward through the Atlantic Ocean, and even though its strongest winds will not make landfall, the storm is already creating serious problems along the U.S. East Coast. The large size of the hurricane is pushing powerful waves toward shore,

Hurricane Erin, churning north in the Atlantic hundreds of miles offshore, is expected to trigger a dangerous storm surge and tropical storm conditions on Wednesday along North Carolina’s Outer Banks and other stretches of the U.