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.

People in the Outer Banks should shelter in place, authorities said. Meanwhile, life-threatening rip currents are likely at beaches along the East Coast, according to forecasters.

Hurricane Erin, churning north in the Atlantic hundreds of miles offshore, is expected to trigger a dangerous storm surge and tropical storm conditions on Wednesday along North Carolina’s Outer Banks and other stretches of the U.