Two more tropical systems trail Hurricane Erin, which is following a projected course that brushes past the East Coast without making landfall.

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.

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.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.

Hurricane Erin, which had exploded into a Category 5 powerhouse, was downgraded to a Category 3, but rip currents and surf remained "life-threatening" to beachgoers along the U.S. East Coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

Erin has rapidly intensified into a major hurricane. The storm officially became the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season on Frida. As of 6 a.m. on Saturday, Erin has become a Category 4 hurricane.

The fund may be more important this year than ever because of uncertainty around any help from the federal government for storm response or cleanup.