Hurricane Erin, now a Category 2 storm, has triggered a state of emergency in North Carolina, where residents and visitors along the Outer Banks are under evacuation orders. The Outer Banks is also under a tropical storm warning; Erin is forecast to hit the islands with heavy rain and rough winds on Wednesday night.

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.

Two homes on North Carolina's Outer Banks sit precariously in high waves generated by Hurricane Erin with their days seemingly numbered.

While hundreds of residents and tourists evacuated North Carolina’s Outerbanks on Tuesday, others got caught in some of the earliest flooding from Hurricane Erin. The combination of the storm and high tide sent waves surging into homes, hotels and Highway 12 - the only way in and out of those islands.