Residents across North Carolina’s Outer Banks and coast braced for flooding from storm surge and powerful winds Wednesday as Hurricane Erin churned hundreds of miles away in the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricane Erin is marching north and is set to bring life-threatening rip currents, destructive waves, coastal flooding and possibly beach erosion to much of the East Coast. The conditions will last through Thursday before improving later on Friday and into Saturday.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for North Carolina as Hurricane Erin churns up the east coast of the U.S. as a Category 2 storm.