While Erin is unlikely to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea, authorities expect its large swells will cut off roads to villages and vacation homes on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and whip up life-threatening rip currents from Florida to New England.

High surf advisories are in effect from Florida to Massachusetts, with Wednesday marking the peak for dangerous and destructive waves. Waves could reach 10 to 20 feet in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, 11 feet in the Southeast, and 15 feet in the Northeast.

On Wednesday morning, Hurricane Erin was several hundred miles off the coast of Florida and beginning to push storm surge and deadly rip currents toward the shore. Two other systems may form right

Forecasts nudge Erin's likely path to the west, increasing the risks at U.S. beaches. Tropical storm conditions are expected in North Carolina's Outer Banks starting late Wednesday.

Hurricane Erin weakened into a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center.