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.

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.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds on Monday night as it passed to the east of the Bahamas. The forecast track keeps the center of the storm well away from the U.S. East Coast this week, but tropical storm and storm surge watches have been issued for the North Carolina Outer Banks. National Hurricane Center