Hurricane Erin brings flooding to parts of Outer Banks as it pivots from East Coast

Although remaining well offshore as it moves north along the U.S. eastern seaboard, Hurricane Erin is bringing rain, storm surge and dangerous rip currents to coastal communities in North Carolina and is likely to do the same to parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast in the coming hours.

In its 11 a.m. ET advisory on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said the center of the Category 2 storm, which is packing sustained winds of nearly 100 miles per hour with higher gusts, is at about 260 miles east of Cape Hatteras.

A storm surge warning remains in effect from Cape Lookout to Duck, N.C., indicating a life-threatening risk of coastal flooding from rising waters. A tropical storm warning is in place from Beaufort Inlet, N.C., to Chincoteague, Va. Additionally, a tropi