Hurricane Erin has triggered a state of emergency in North Carolina, where residents and visitors along the Outer Banks are under evacuation orders.

Residents across North Carolina’s Outer Banks and coast braced for flooding from storm surge and powerful winds Wednesday as Hurricane Erin churned hundreds of miles away in the Atlantic Ocean.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for North Carolina as Hurricane Erin churns up the east coast of the U.S. as a Category 2 storm.