Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina's Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes before slowly moving away.

Two homes on North Carolina's Outer Banks sit precariously in high waves generated by Hurricane Erin with their days seemingly numbered.

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Emergency management officials on Sunday declared states of emergency and ordered the evacuations of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands on North Carolina's Outer Banks beginning Monday due to threats from

Hurricane Erin forced tourists to cut their vacations short on North Carolina’s Outer Banks even though the monster storm is expected to stay offshore after lashing part of the Caribbean with rain and wind on Monday.