Hurricane Erin is marching north, lashing North Carolina's Outer Banks with rough waves and coastal flooding, and bringing a threat of dangerous waves and potentially deadly rip currents to the East Coast.

The massive storm is expected to bring coastal flooding and tropical storm conditions to parts of the mid-Atlantic despite not making landfall.

The National Hurricane Center warned that roads in the low-lying barrier islands will become impassable, with waves of 15 to 20 feet crashing ashore.