Most of the tourists have left Ocracoke Island, and the surfers are watching closely as deadly rip currents lurk below the waves.

By Tuesday morning, Erin had lost some strength from previous days and dropped to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm again Monday morning and is expected to grow even larger and stronger, Life-threatening surf and rip currents are likely across the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada.

As Hurricane Erin moves closer to the East Coast, it's stirring up powerful and dangerous rip currents that will affect our beaches and shore points.While the storm isn't making landfall, it's generating strong swells that are forecasted to build waves between 8 and 12 feet.