Hurricane Erin, churning north in the Atlantic hundreds of miles offshore, is expected to trigger a dangerous storm surge and tropical storm conditions on Wednesday along North Carolina’s Outer Banks and other stretches of the East Coast.

The National Hurricane Center warned that roads in the low-lying barrier islands may become impassable, with waves as high as 20 feet crashing ashore. The heavy surf is likely to result in significant beach erosion, it said in its 8 a.m. EDT update.

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, freeing up state money and manpower to help during the storm and its aftermath. Tropical storm and storm-surge warnings are in place for other parts of the North Carolina coastline. Earlier in the week, the coastal counties of Dare

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