NEW YORK – The United States avoided a direct strike from Hurricane Erin this week, but the storm’s large size and powerful outer bands still caused significant disruptions along parts of the East Coast.

Erin, which reached Category 5 intensity while north of the Caribbean, came within about 200 miles of North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Thursday, causing overwash to swamp roadways and erode protective dunes.

Videos and photos taken Thursday morning along North Carolina’s Highway 12 – the main thoroughfare through the Outer Banks – showed long stretches of the coastal highway underwater during high tide.

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation shut down a nearly 50-mile stretch of the roadway because of the hazards but gave no indication of when it would reopen to residents and travelers.

Authorities said inspections had not uncovered major structural damage to bridges or highways, but sand and debris removal was expected to be extensive.

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That same message was echoed up and down the Eastern Seaboard, where officials reported relatively little in the way of significant impacts despite the power of the hurricane.

In several northeastern states, authorities reported that low-lying coastal areas did see flooding with the evening’s high tide.

In southern New Jersey, residents in West Wildwood navigated the inundated streets using surfboards and other small flotation craft, appearing to take the event in stride.

Ahead of the hurricane, Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for 21 counties and warned that dangers would persist at least through Friday.

Even though the hurricane is hundreds of miles away, forecasters said Erin’s size would allow rip currents and rough seas to continue along much of the East Coast through the weekend.

Officials have been warning beachgoers for days to stay out of the water, citing hundreds of rescues as evidence of the ocean’s power.

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There have been no reports of missing swimmers as of Thursday evening, but lifeguards cautioned against going into the water, especially during one of the final weekends of summer, with many coastal communities busy with visitors.

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein is expected to visit coastal areas on Friday to assess damage and the status of reopening efforts.

Elsewhere in the tropics, the National Hurricane Center said it is monitoring a few disturbances in the Atlantic basin, but the FOX Forecast Center noted that due to the prevailing weather pattern over North America, none of the systems pose a threat to the continental United States.