North Carolina County Declares State of Emergency as Hurricane Erin Intensifies Again

Dare County, which sits along the North Carolina Atlantic coast, warned that the storm could affect the community even if it doesn’t strike the county.

Hurricane Erin, which is the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season and has developed into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, moves westward near Puerto Rico in a composite satellite image on Aug. 16, 2025. CIRA/NOAA/Handout via Reuters

Dare County, a small coastal county nearly surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in North Carolina, declared a state of emergency Sunday before the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced that Category 3 Hurricane Erin had intensified back to a Category 4.

In an 11 p.m. update on Sunday, the NHC reported observing increased wind speeds near 115 mph, pushing Erin back up to a Category 4 hurricane. By 2 a.m., sustained wind speeds had increased further to 130 mph.