Outer Banks storm brings howling winds, floods, closed roads and warnings
A strong storm pounded North Carolina’s coast over the weekend, bringing strong winds and flooding that prompted warnings and road closures.
Before the worst of the storm hit North Carolina, it stranded two kayakers on Tybee Island in Georgia on Saturday afternoon, according to a release from the United States Coast Guard.
A Coast Guard helicopter from Savannah took the two to Hunter Army airport at about 6 p.m., the Coast Guard said. There were no injuries.
As the storm moved into North Carolina early Saturday morning, the National Weather Service issued warnings calling for coastal flooding up to 4 feet above ground on the Outer Banks, ocean over wash, beach erosion and strong winds with gusts reaching up to 70 mph.
N.C. 12, which runs through the Outer Banks, closed at 5 p.m. Saturday from Oregon Inlet to Rodanthe, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, due to unsafe travel conditions.
Winds blew sand onto the highway, leading to “almost no visibility,” the department said, and ocean over wash was expected later in the day.
Weather conditions deteriorated Saturday night and Sunday morning.
As of 7 p.m., the strongest gusts in the area reached 60 mph in Fort Macon and the Oregon Inlet, according to the National Weather Service’s Newport/Morehead City office.
Peak gusts reached 69 mph at the Frying Pan Shoal Buoy shortly after 9 p.m., according to the National Weather Service’s Wilmington Office.
The Outer Banks was getting “significant coastal flooding”, the NWS said in a 9:55 p.m. update, and water levels were expected to continue rising.
At about midnight, all of Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island lost power, Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative said.
Power was restored to the islands around 2:15 a.m. after conditions allowed crews to be dispatched to “replace a failed insulator on the transmission system,” the company said.
Winds have let up as the storm begins to move out of the area, but they could still bring “major coastal flooding” to the Outer Banks on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, and a Coastal Flood Warning remains in effect in the area until 1 a.m. Monday.
Up to 4 feet of inundation is possible for areas near shorelines and tidal waterways, the NWS says.
A High Surf Advisory is also in effect for the area until 7 p.m. Monday, the NWS says.
N.C. 12 remains closed Sunday as it’s still covered in sand in some areas and more over wash is expected with high tide, the N.C. Department of Transportation says.
In southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, a Coastal Flood Advisory is in effect until 2 p.m., according to the NWS.
