Wrightsville Beach braces for high storm surge, strong winds from Hurricane Erin

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Hurricane Erin is expected to bring a high storm surge to Wrightsville Beach, raising concerns about beach erosion and flooding.

Wrightsville Beach town officials told ABC11 that they're waiting to see how the storm surge and strong winds could affect Wednesday evening's high tide.

Wrightsville Beach Communications Manager Bailey Hartsell said they're at higher risk from flooding.

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"We're an island, we're surrounded by water," she said. "There's nowhere for it to go. But once the tides do kind of rescind, and the water starts to evaporate, and will kind of seep into the ocean or the intercoastal, we can go out and check and see how everything is going."

Hurricane Erin has already caused dangerous rip current conditions at Wrightsville Beach all week.

Ocean rescue crews told ABC11 that rip currents resulted in more than 60 rescues on Monday, 18 on Tuesday, and four on Wednesday.