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 before slowly moving away.

North Carolina expects coastal flooding from massive waves, tropical-storm-force winds and tidal and storm surges for much of the state shoreline, especially the Outer Banks, as well as life-threatening rip currents for most of the week, Stein said, adding, "No one should be in the ocean."

Hurricane Erin is a huge Category 4 storm and is expected to both grow larger and stronger today as it moves toward the west-northwest. The center of the storm is expected to remain offshore as it moves between the U.S. and Bermuda.