Outer Banks beaches ‘impassable’ at high tide due to surge from Hurricane Lorenzo
The Outer Banks are seeing “extreme high tides” and dangerous flooding due to a hurricane that is hundreds of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Park Service.
Park rangers at Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras posted photos Monday, revealing Hurricane Lorenzo in the North Atlantic is making most of North Carolina’s beaches impassable at high tide.
“Swells from Hurricane Lorenzo are still causing dangerous conditions in our area,” Cape Hatteras National Seashore posted on Facebook.
“In addition to high rip current risks and dangerous shore break we are also experiencing very high tides that are causing ocean over wash in various areas along Hatteras Island as well as making most beaches completely impassable within two hours of high tide.”
The surge is also refilling unwanted new inlets cut through Cape Lookout National Seashore by Hurricane Dorian. Those inlets essentially cut the islands into pieces and the park service has been hoping they would fill in with sand.
Cape Lookout park officials say Hurricane Lorenzo surge is being compounded by king tides, the higher-than-normal tides that occur when the moon is closest to the Earth.
The park posted photos of ocean water rushing through one of those inlets between rental cabins and “breaking through the small dunes.” The storm is also creating extremely dangerous rip currents that are often linked to drownings off North Carolina.
“Today the King Tide overwashed the islands in several places, including into Great Island Cabin Camp where it tried to steal a propane tank,” Cape Lookout posted with the photos.
On Wednesday, Hurricane Lorenzo was about 220 miles northeast of the Western Azores, and hurricane force winds were extending 150 miles out from the center, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm has sustained winds of 90 mph, with higher gusts, experts say.
“Swells generated by Lorenzo have spread across much of the North Atlantic, and are affecting the East Coast of the United States,” the hurricane center warned. “These swells will produce life-threatening surf and rip currents.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2019 at 7:29 AM with the headline "Outer Banks beaches ‘impassable’ at high tide due to surge from Hurricane Lorenzo."