Strong winds and waves from Hurricane Erin have battered Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard as dangerous rip currents continue to threaten from the Carolinas to New England. But the storm is heading farther out to sea and forecasters say the unusually large hurricane will slowly weaken into the weekend. It has already dropped to Category 1 status. The menacing waves closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City on Thursday. On North Carolina's Outer Banks, waves breached dunes in the town of Kill Devil Hills, and water and sand pooled on Highway 12. But the low-lying islands appear to have dodged widespread destruction.

Hurricane Erin is strengthening again and forecasters say it could re-intensify into a major hurricane. The storm is creeping toward the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City. It's expected to peak over the next 48 hours. Erin is unlikely to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea. But authorities are warning that its large swells will cut off roads on North Carolina's Outer Banks and whip up life-threatening rip currents from Florida to New England. The National Hurricane Center is watching two more tropical waves to the east of Erin.