U.S. East Coast faces "life-threatening" wave threats from Hurricane Erin

Hurricane Erin's threats prompted mandatory evacuations in the North Carolina Outer Banks on Monday, as forecasters warned the major storm could impact the U.S. East Coast.The big picture: The currently Category 4 storm that flooded Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands over the weekend isn't expected to make landfall in the U.S., but the National Hurricane Center warns it's expected to bring "life-threatening surf and rip currents" to much of the East Coast, Atlantic Canada, the Bahamas and Bermuda during the next several days. Screenshot: National Hurricane Center/XThreat level: "Erin is likely to remain a dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week," according to an NHC advisory issued at 8pm Monday ET.Dare County, N.C., is under a state of emergency due to the storm and mandatory evacuation orders were issued for visitors to Hatteras Island. Residents were ordered to leave by 8am Tuesday local time."The island faces potential 15-20 foot breaking waves that could cause structural damage and flood communities, especially along the dune front," Dare County Emergency Management director Drew Pearson said in a video posted to the county's social media accounts.NHC director Michael Brennan said in a Monday evening video forecast that the "very large size" of Erin would result in some "very dangerous conditions" along the Outer Banks from late Tuesday and peaking overnight Wednesday into Thursday."We could see widespread inundation of coastal roads like North Carolina Highway 12, some submersion of vehicles, some structural damage, and that ocean water is going to extend well inland in some places and cause some significant threats to life and property," Brennan warned in the video that was posted to the NHC's social media accounts.State of play: Erin was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph some 805 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., as it churned in a northwestly direction at 10 mph.A turn to the north was expected Tuesday and Erin's core was forecast to pass to the east of the southeastern and central Bahamas on Monday and move between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast by the middle of the week, per the NHC.A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas.A Tropical Storm Watch was in effect for the central Bahamas and from Beaufort Inlet to Duck, N.C., including Pamlico Sound.Context: Erin formed as a tropical storm on Aug. 11 and it's fluctuated in intensity since it became on Friday the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season.The storm reached Category 5 strength with peak winds of 160 mph on Aug. 16 after undergoing extreme rapid intensification, per analysis by Climate Central."Hurricane Erin experienced rapid intensification over sea surfaces warmed by climate change," notes the nonprofit that researches and reports on the impacts of climate change."This rapid strengthening occurred as the storm passed over unusually warm ocean waters that were made up to 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change," Climate Central notes.Between Aug 15–16, Hurricane #Erin exploded from Cat 1 to Cat 5 in just over 24 hours. Winds ramped up 85 mph—topping out at 160 mph—over abnormally hot Atlantic waters amplified by human-caused, heat-trapping pollution.Here’s what attribution science shows 🧵 pic.twitter.com/P6rWL2ZBSv— Climate Central (@ClimateCentral) August 18, 2025 More from Axios: How climate change supercharged Hurricanes Helene, MiltonClimate change is increasing hurricane wind speeds, study findsEditor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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