Hurricane Erin has battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes.

On Wednesday, 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 behind.

Hurricane Erin is strengthening again and forecasters say it could re-intensify into a major hurricane. The storm is creeping toward the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City.

Hurricane Erin, which formed on August 11 and quickly intensified, is expected to largely impact the Outer Banks region of North Carolina and portions of coastal Virginia — though forecasters warn the storm’s impacts will also be felt in the northeast.

Major Hurricane Erin may have topped out in terms of intensity, but the storm is still expected to grow in terms of size, which will bring rip currents and high surf conditions to much of the U.S. East Coast this week.

Hurricane Erin has weakened slightly into a Category 2 hurricane but is forecast to "substantially grow in size" as it moves over the western Atlantic Ocean through the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Erin remains a category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph and is located about 495 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Erin is expected to intensify later on Wednesday and its wind field is expected to widen significantly,