HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. — Visitors still cannot get onto Hatteras Island, and the main road down the island stays blocked, as Dare County kept its mandatory visitor evacuation in force on Tuesday, Oct. 20, while the offshore nor’easter kept pushing the ocean across N.C. Highway 12.
The highway has been shut between the Marc Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe since roughly 6 p.m. Monday, when surf broke through the dunes and put water over the pavement near the Pea Island Visitor Center. State transportation officials reported that the road surface there was not damaged.
Crews are pushing sand back along the shoulder and working to rebuild about 1,000 feet of dune that washed away overnight, but each high tide sets the work back. Down on Ocracoke Island, drivers can still use the highway. Transportation officials said no overwash was seen on Hatteras or Ocracoke, though crews on both islands were scraping blown sand off the road.
The National Weather Service expects tides through Thursday, Oct. 22, to run as high as or higher than what the coast has already seen. Minor soundside flooding is expected on southern Hatteras Island through Thursday, and the county told residents in low spots to move cars to higher ground.
The evacuation covers visitors only. Residents are not under an evacuation order, and nothing has been ordered north of Oregon Inlet. Winds and seas should start easing Thursday, but the county warned that flooding can linger after the wind drops and that residents should be ready to be cut off for several days. Visitors will be allowed back only once the ocean no longer threatens the highway, and the county will announce when that happens.
Section: More Outer Banks NC crime news
Filed under: Outer Banks NC Traffic News
