Outer Banks, N.C. — Final ridership figures from the N.C. Ferry Division show more than 1,900 people used the state emergency ferry between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point after last month’s nor’easter damaged N.C. 12 on Pea Island and cut the usual road link to Hatteras Island.
From Sept. 27 through Sept. 30, the emergency ferry route ran on a three-boat schedule around the clock. Crews carried 1,901 passengers and 998 vehicles and made a total of 67 departures while transportation workers worked to restore and reopen N.C. 12 on Pea Island.
The N.C. Ferry Division stood up the Rodanthe and Stumpy Point link in Dare County once crews could gauge the storm damage. The boats moved critical goods, essential personnel and permanent residents while road access was severed, giving coastal communities a temporary lifeline between the Outer Banks and the mainland.
N.C. Ferry Division Director Jed Dixon said the emergency ferry route helped reestablish an important transportation connection for coastal residents and businesses and thanked federal, state and local partners for putting the route in place within a few days. It was the first time the Ferry Division had stood up that emergency ferry route since 2013.
Dare County sits at the center of the Outer Banks barrier-island chain, where N.C. 12 and ferry links decide whether residents and workers can move when storms tear at Pea Island. The NC Department of Transportation (OBX Ferry / NC-12) controls that corridor and the ferry system that communities lean on when the highway closes.
County officials including Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard and County Manager Bobby Outten help coordinate emergency messaging when road and ferry changes hit. The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau is among the major local employers that communicate travel conditions to visitors when island access is disrupted.
With the final count now public, the September emergency run stands as a measured snapshot of how many people and vehicles needed that temporary route before N.C. 12 reopened. Residents and businesses that depend on Hatteras Island access can use the numbers as a reminder that ferry contingency plans remain part of coastal storm recovery here.
