North Carolina's Outer Banks reopen to visitors

But Pearson said officials think between 10,000 and 12,500 people have left the island ahead of the storm.

Maria is about 165 miles (265 km) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), the NHC added.

The Atlantic Ocean has been washing under waterfront homes and onto side streets since Tuesday at high tide in parts of Avon, said Tony Meekins, 55, a lifelong resident. "We see storm after storm". Dare County Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson warned that travel would remain hazardous for the foreseeable future, particularly on Hatteras Island.

The storm is about 160 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras.

"The ocean is angry", Helena Stevens with the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association told the Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk. The worst of the storm would likely hit regions from eastern North Carolina to DE, closest to the center of the storm. Dare County officials will continue to closely monitor conditions and coordinate with NCDOT to determine when road conditions will allow reentry for Hatteras Island visitors.

Hyde County officials said Monday they thought about 700 visitors would leave because of the evacuation ordered for Ocracoke Island.

A Tropical Storm Warning is still in effect for most of the North Carolina coast, ranging from the Virginia line to the Bogue Inlet.

Maria is predicted to erode more than half the dunes along North Carolina's 300-mile (485-kilometer) coast.

A man carries water in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Canovanas, Puerto Rico, Sep. Beaches in Maryland and Virginia could fare even worse.