Evacuation order issued for North Carolina's Outer Banks as Hurricane Erin moves closer to US

A mandatory evacuation order was issued Monday for parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks as Hurricane Erin approaches the Atlantic seaboard. 

The order was issued by the state's Dare County for Hatteras Island and includes a state of emergency for the entire county, which includes the towns of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. There was already a Coastal Flood Watch in effect, as flooding and ocean overwash are expected to begin as early as Tuesday and continue through Thursday.

"Portions of N.C. Highway 12 on Hatteras Island will likely be impassable for several days," the county added.

The hurricane's intensity fluctuated over the weekend, weakening from a Category 5 to a Category 3 storm before strengthening back into a Category 4 hurricane late Sunday, Axios reported.

"Some additional strengthening is expected today. Erin will remain a dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week," the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory early Monday.

Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas are under a Tropical Storm Warning.

Puerto Rico experienced heavy rains from Erin on Sunday, after the storm's outer bands first reached the territory and U.S. Virgin Islands on Friday night.

"Locally considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides, are possible" for Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands, according to the NHC.