Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina's Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes before slowly moving away.

Hurricane Erin's higher tides and big waves are battering much of the East Coast, with the huge storm prompting the expansion of tropical storm and coastal flooding advisories Wednesday. Beachfront property owners are bracing for the worst amid predictions of a storm surge of up to 4 feet and significant coastal erosion.