The massive hurricane was picking up speed, traveling north at 14 mph, and its center was located about 295 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. A tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of North Carolina and Virginia as the impacts from Erin spread northward.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for North Carolina as Hurricane Erin churns up the east coast of the U.S. as a Category 2 storm.

Hurricane Erin continues to churn in the Atlantic waters hundreds of miles off the U.S., prompting officials to close beaches along the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast.

People in the Outer Banks should shelter in place, authorities said. Meanwhile, life-threatening rip currents are likely at beaches along the East Coast, according to forecasters.

Hurricane Erin has battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes.

Hurricane Erin continues its northerly track and is set to deliver impacts to the beaches in New Jersey and Delaware.

Dramatic aerial footage shows storm surge flooding homes and a motel in North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Aug. 19 as Hurricane Erin battered the coast. Officials ordered evacuations in Dare County, warning of life-threatening winds and rising waters.

According to the Action News Jax First Alert Weather Team, waves are expected to get even larger by later this evening. Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue tells me they do not recommend people go into the water,