Hurricane Erin is forcing evacuations on North Carolina’s Outer Banks as it threatens to whip up wild waves and tropical force winds.

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, barrier islands that stretch over 175 miles, coastal flooding was expected to begin Tuesday and continue through Thursday. Two of the four counties on the Outer