Hurricane Erin's massive waves threaten to isolate North Carolina's Outer Banks

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AP2004

FILE - A bulldozer pushes sand along NC highway 12 in the Pea island National Wildlife Refuge, on North Carolina's Outer Banks, near Nags Head, N.C., Dec. 18, 2003, as workers rebuild dunes that were destroyed by Hurricane Isabel. (AP Photo/Bob Jordan, File)

There's a popular T-shirt on Hatteras Island on the North Carolina Outer Banks that says: “One road on. One road off (sometimes)” — poking fun at the constant battle between Mother Nature and a thin ribbon of pavement connecting the narrow barrier island to the rest of the world.

Mother Nature is probably going to win this week. Hurricane Erin is forecast to move hundreds of miles offshore from the islands but the massive storm is still sending waves 20 feet (6 meters) or greater crashing over vulnerable sand dunes