Officials predict N.C. 12 will become impassable in sections with the evening’s high tide around 6:10 p.m. Wednesday.

Mandatory evacuations are underway for parts of the Outer Banks, including Dare and Hyde counties and various islands, as Hurricane Erin draws closer.

NCDOT officials said “given the winds, wave heights and storm surge forecast, it likely won’t be enough” to keep NC 12 from flooding at the Outer Banks.

In a 10 On Your Side interview with Drew Pearson, director of emergency management for Dare County, he shares what he expects the impacts of Hurricane Erin to be on the Outer Banks while talking about the danger of storm surge.

There's a popular T-shirt on Hatteras Island on the North Carolina Outer Banks that says: “One road on. One road off (sometimes)” — poking fun at the constant battle between Mother Nature and a thin ribbon of pavement connecting the narrow barrier island to the rest of the world.

Mandatory evacuations are underway for parts of the Outer Banks, including Dare and Hyde counties and various islands, as Hurricane Erin draws closer.

Several days of heavy surf and high winds and waves could wash out parts of NC 12, which connects the popular vacation spot to the mainland, the National Weather Service said.

Emergency management officials on Sunday declared a state of emergency and ordered the evacuation of Hatteras Island on North Carolina's Outer Banks beginning Monday due to threats from Hurricane Erin.

See the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. Plan your visit for the fall, when the temperatures are still mild and the summer tourists have left. “There are things we just don't have here,