NHC forecasters said Wednesday that beachgoers should avoid swimming "at most U.S. East Coast beaches" due to life-threatening surf and rip currents.

While hundreds of residents and tourists evacuated North Carolina’s Outerbanks on Tuesday, others got caught in some of the earliest flooding from Hurricane Erin. The combination of the storm and high tide sent waves surging into homes, hotels and Highway 12 - the only way in and out of those islands.