Officials Issue Beach Warnings for East Coast as Hurricane Erin Moves North

Although the center of the storm will stay far offshore, its outer edges are expected to bring high winds, large swells, and life-threatening rip currents.

Red flags, indicating that swimming is prohibited, were raised ahead of the approach of Hurricane Erin at the beach in Duck, N.C., on Aug. 19, 2025. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Hurricane Erin continued to churn northward as federal forecasters warned people at East Coast beaches not to go into the water due to potentially life-threatening conditions.

National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasters say they are confident that the center of the storm will stay far offshore, although its outer edges are expected to bring high winds, large swells, and rip currents on Thursday and Friday.

Life-threatening surf and 100 mph winds will lash parts of the East Coast, National Weather Service forecasters warned on Aug. 20.

The center said in a bulletin on Wednesday that beachgoers shouldn’t swim at most U.S. East Coast beaches.

Meanwhile, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein warned coastal residents to be prepared to evacuate and declared a state of emergency on Tuesday afternoon.

“To folks on the coast, now is the time to prepare. Check your emergency kits, make sure you have emergency alerts turned on, and listen to emergency guidance in case you need to evacuate,” Stein said in a statement.

New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered three state beaches on Long Island to prohibit swimming through Thursday. Several New Jersey beaches also will be temporarily off-limits, while some towns in Delaware have closed ocean access.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect for much of North Carolina’s coastline, and a tropical storm watch was issued for much of Virginia. The outer bands of Erin are expected to hit parts of North Carolina by Wednesday evening.

Officials in North Carolina’s Dare County issued a state of emergency and evacuated several areas over the past weekend in anticipation of large ocean swells and winds cutting off road access.

On the Outer Banks, Erin’s storm surge could swamp roads with waves of 15 feet. Mandatory evacuations were ordered on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.

The warning was issued for Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina to the Virginia border, which includes Pamlico and Albemarle sounds, the NHC said in an 8 a.m. advisory. The watch was issued for the state line and north to Chincoteague, Virginia.

All of the island nation of Bermuda is under a tropical storm watch, as well.

NHC forecasting models show that the storm is expected to pass to the north-northwest between the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda before it moves northwesterly over the northern Atlantic, without its center making landfall anywhere.

The 100 mph winds make Erin a Category 2 storm. As of Wednesday morning, it was about 400 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras.

On Tuesday, Erin lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands, where government services were suspended and residents were ordered to stay home, along with parts of the Bahamas.

The NHC is also monitoring two other disturbances in the Atlantic, noting that one has a 60 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next seven days and the other has a 40 percent chance of doing so.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.