Hurricane Erin forecast: Live updates as storm strengthens

Here’s Accuweather to explain why the Outer Banks are so vulnerable to hurricanes:

Beaches up and down the East Coast of the U.S. have been closed off to swimmers because of dangerous currents and rip tides caused by Hurricane Erin.

Here’s the scene in Surf City, New Jersey.

Hurricane Erin underwent a period of rapid intensification, strengthening from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in approximately 24 hours last week.

NASA’s GPM Core Observatory passed over Hurricane Erin at 6:23 a.m. ET on August 16, while it was intensifying.

Here’s what they captured:

The National Hurricane Center is reminding people not to go swimming in the ocean.

In its latest post on X, the NHC writes: “Outer Bands of Large Hurricane Erin Brushing the North Carolina Outer Banks. Beachgoers Are Cautioned Against Swimming At Most U. S. East Coast Beaches Due to Life-Threatening Surf and Rip Currents.”

While the swells from storms like Hurricane Erin exacerbate the situation, the conditions threatening the houses are always present — beach erosion and climate change are bringing the ocean closer and closer to their front doors.

The two houses in the surf at Rodanthe have drawn a lot of attention as Erin travels several hundred miles to the east. The small village of about 200 people juts farther into the Atlantic than any other part of North Carolina.

Hurricane Erin made a sudden shift in trajectory Wednesday as Category 2 winds raced towards the U.S. East Coast, resulting in closed beaches and a state of emergency being declared in North Carolina.

Days after 130mph winds and torrential rainfall battered the Caribbean and left tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans without power, fears grew that Erin would slam into the U.S. as a Category 2 hurricane this week.

By midday the storm was approaching Category 3 classification and is expected to strengthen in the next 12 to 24 hours.

North Carolina’s Department of Transportation has closed part of NC12, the highway serving the Outer Banks.

Despite warnings against swimming in the ocean issued in parts of North Carolina, some beach-goers chose to take a dip anyway.

CNN reported that people took to the water Wednesday at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, despite a no swimming advisory having being issued as early as Monday.

The advisory is in place until Friday.

The beach was cleared Wednesday afternoon due to lightning within 10 miles of the beach.

“These swells are producing powerful rip currents that can create extremely hazardous swimming conditions,” the town’s ocean rescue director, Sam Proffitt, said in a news release.

“The safety of our beachgoers is always our top priority, and we urge everyone to follow this advisory.”

Swimming bans have been issued in multiple states up the east coast, including Virginia, New Jersey and New York.