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.

Hurricane Erin strengthened 85 mph in 24 hours to a 160 mph Category 5 hurricane putting in fourth place for rapidly intensifying storms.

Evacuation orders were issued in North Carolina Tuesday as Hurricane Erin continued to swirl upward across the Atlantic Ocean and two disturbances followed behind it.

The U.S. Air Force 403rd Wing released footage showing one of its planes entering the eye of Hurricane Erin. By early Tuesday, Erin had lost some strength from previous days and had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph),

While the category 4 storm is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. east coast, it will have an impact nonetheless. Dangerous high surf and rip currents are expected from Florida to New England throughout the week.

Notice the historical line that the storm has made a significant turn from heading west to almost directly north

Forecasters are confident that Erin will turn northeast and away from the eastern U.S., but it’s still expected to produce dangerous waves and rip currents and could bring tropical force winds to North Carolina coast, said Dave Roberts of the National Hurricane Center.

Erin’s surf and storm surge could cause erosion along sections of the Florida and East Coast and shapes up as potentially worse for North Carolina’s barrier islands, which are under mandatory evacuation orders ahead of the four feet of storm surge and 20-foot offshore waves Erin is expected to bring.