Hurricane Erin is expected to impact the Outer Banks in North Carolina, sending massive waves crashing into the islands.

By Tuesday morning, Erin had lost some strength from previous days and dropped to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

With wave heights projected at 15-20 feet along stretches of the coast – and up to 22 feet offshore in the Hudson Canyon – fears of severe beach erosion and dune destruction are mounting. The National Park Service at Cape Hatteras warned that protective dune systems “will likely inundate and destroy” under the battering seas.