Hurricane Erin forced tourists to cut their vacations short on North Carolina’s Outer Banks even though the monster storm is expected to stay offshore after lashing part of the Caribbean with rain and wind on Monday.

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Local officials issued evacuation orders for parts of the Outer Banks, warning that the storm might wash out roads.

Hurricane Erin is moving northward through the Atlantic Ocean, and even though its strongest winds will not make landfall, the storm is already creating serious problems along the U.S. East Coast. The large size of the hurricane is pushing powerful waves toward shore,

Emergency management officials on Sunday declared states of emergency and ordered the evacuations of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands on North Carolina's Outer Banks beginning Monday due to threats from