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.

Tropical storm conditions and coastal flooding are expected to appear in areas along the Outer Banks starting late Wednesday.

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

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

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.