BUXTON, N.C. — Rising tides on Hatteras Island sent students at both Cape Hatteras schools in Buxton home early on Monday, Oct. 19, as Dare County Schools tried to get children and staff off the roads before flooding set in on the Outer Banks.
The district let Cape Hatteras Elementary School out at 11:40 a.m. and Cape Hatteras Secondary School at 12:30 p.m. The afternoon Right at School program at the elementary school was called off for the day, and staff were free to go once students were gone.
District leaders said the point of the early release was simple: give everyone a safe window to drive home before conditions got worse with the afternoon high tide.
The dismissal came while Hatteras Island was already under a state of emergency. Dare County has a mandatory evacuation order in place for visitors on the island, but the order does not apply to residents, and no evacuation has been ordered for anyone north of Oregon Inlet. County officials also said Hatteras Island trash pickup would stay on its usual schedule unless N.C. Highway 12 became unsafe to travel.
The storm reached well beyond the classroom. Dare County Parks and Recreation called off or postponed every outdoor activity on its Monday schedule, with games to be made up later, while indoor programs went on as planned. At Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the park shut its campgrounds and lighthouse climbs and closed beach driving routes for off-road vehicles, citing dangerous conditions.
County officials are also warning beachgoers that a number of Rodanthe beach houses facing the ocean are still structurally unsound. If one collapses, people should stay out of the water and off the beach near and downwind of the site, since debris can drift for miles along the seashore. Families can find school updates on the Dare County Schools website and storm information at DareNC.gov/Storm.
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