Hurricane Erin crawls up U.S. East Coast, strong waves expected in Atlantic Canada

East coast beachgoers in the United States are keeping a close watch on Hurricane Erin, a massive storm churning offshore that’s generating powerful waves and turbulent surf.  

The storm is expected to impact the Atlantic Coast from Central Florida to Canada this week.

Authorities began evacuating parts of North Carolina’s Outer Banks—a popular summer destination—as the storm approached, reports say.

With waves expected to exceed 10 feet and the potential for dangerous storm surge, the U.S. National Weather Service strongly advised people to stay out of the water, warning of life-threatening conditions likely to persist through at least Thursday.

As of early Tuesday (Aug. 19), Hurricane Erin’s winds had weakened slightly to 110 mph, placing it at the upper threshold of a Category 2 storm.

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Centre, Erin was moving slowly—just 7 mph—due to opposing headwinds.

The storm continued its long-anticipated, gradual track northward, remaining several hundred miles offshore, with no U.S. landfall expected.

Nevertheless, Erin’s growing wind fields are expected to generate big waves, high seas, and coastal erosion, with the Outer Banks—North Carolina’s barrier islands—likely to take the brunt of the impact, reports say. 

As of 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Erin was roughly 665 miles southwest of Bermuda and 720 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras. It's forecast to form a path between the two on Thursday.

Hurricane Erin formed on August 11 from a tropical wave that passed over the Cabo Verde Islands.

By August 15, it had intensified into a hurricane and strengthened—its winds surged by 85 mph in just 21 hours—placing it among the fastest-intensifying storms in Atlantic history.

While it largely avoided the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, the storm brought heavy rainfall—up to eight inches—to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and parts of the Southeastern Bahamas.

The storm's strong winds also led to widespread power outages across Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Hurricane Erin will bring some wind and strong waves to Atlantic Canada over the next few days, but will likely be too far offshore to bring rain to the region, CBC News reports.