The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Ophelia has made landfall on the North Carolina coast, pummeling coastal areas with damaging winds and treacherous surges of water.

The storm came ashore shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time Saturday near Emerald Isle with near-hurricane-strength winds of around 110 kilometres per hour.

According to utility tracking website poweroutage.us, tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power in several eastern counties of North Carolina.

Life-threatening flooding and up to 175 millimetres of rain is forecast for eastern parts of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia.

The storm is expected to deliver heavy rains and high winds all along the mid-Atlantic region through Sunday.