A video shared by FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel shows crews working to build up the sand dunes on Highway 12 on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, ahead of impacts from Hurricane Erin.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation had ... the road and under homes in Buxton at the north end of Ocracoke Island. Officials encouraged residents and visitors to evacuate Hatteras and Ocracoke islands while N.C. 12 was still open.

NCDOT officials said “given the winds, wave heights and storm surge forecast, it likely won’t be enough” to keep NC 12 from flooding at the Outer Banks.

Evacuations are already underway on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Hurricane Erin is expected to bring gusty winds, large breaking waves, dangerous rip currents and significant coastal flooding to this vulnerable barrier island chain.

Forecasters are confident it will curl north and away from the eastern U.S., but tropical storm and surge watches were issued for much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Tropical Storm and Storm Surge Watches have been issued for portions of North Carolina’s Outer Banks as extremely dangerous Hurricane Erin continues to barrel across the Atlantic as a major Category 4 hurricane.

While Hurricane Erin is predicted to stay hundreds of kilometres offshore, the waves it is sending on the islands are at least 20 feet high that are crashing on the vulnerable sand dunes on the islands.