‘Sharks are in the collards!’ King tides, winds flood NC’s Outer Banks, photos show
Photos and videos shared on social media Nov. 7 show floods wreaking havoc on parts of the North Carolina coast.
A powerful storm was forecast to hit the area with heavy rain and strong winds over the weekend, McClatchy News reported. The storm combined with a period of king tide — which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said is a “non-scientific term people often use to describe exceptionally high tides” — have brought flooding to the state’s Outer Banks and other coastal areas.
The National Park Service posted photos to its Cape Lookout National Seashore page on Facebook showing flooding outside of the Harkers Island Visitor Center and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum.
“Sharks are in the collards! — a local saying when the water is high and flooding areas,” the post said.
Additional photos and videos show flooding on other parts of the Outer Banks.
N.C. Highway 12 is closed between Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe as “travel conditions remain unsafe,” according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. A dune collapsed the morning of Nov. 7 near Pea Island, and the department said “it could be Tuesday before NCDOT crews can safely fix dunes that protect” the highway.
The transportation department also said that multiple ferry operations have been suspended.
“The ferries that run between Ocracoke, Cedar Island and Swan Quarter have been suspended for the day due to high winds along the coast. Ferries between Ocracoke and Hatteras have been suspended until further notice,” the department said. “Also, the Currituck-Knotts Island ferry operations have been suspended until further notice due to the storm, which created water levels that are too low to operate. Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach ferry operations are suspended due to elevated water levels and high winds.”
In southeastern North Carolina, photos and video posted to Twitter showed damage and coastal flooding from king tides on Carolina Beach and on Fort Fisher.
The National Weather Service’s Wilmington Office said “water levels could become one of the five highest on record” at Wrightsville Beach on Nov. 7 after tides reached the fourth-highest level on record on Nov. 6.
The storm is expected to “slowly begin to depart the region” the night of Nov. 7, according to the NWS’s Newport/Morehead office. But its impacts could remain for a few days.
A coastal flood warning remains in effect until 1 p.m. Nov. 9 on Hatteras Island, the northern Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island, according to the NWS. A warning remains in effect until 1 p.m. Nov. 8 for “eastern Carteret,” “areas along the lower Neuse and Trent Rivers and adjacent tidal creeks” and eastern Currituck County.
Other parts of the coast remain under a coastal flood advisory. A gale warning is also in effect until 1 p.m. Nov. 8 from the “coastal waters from Cape Lookout to Surf City” and until midnight Nov. 7 for the “southeast North Carolina coastal waters,” the NWS said.
The NWS said “winds 25 to 35 kt with gusts up to 45 kt and seas 7 to 12 feet” are possible.
Forecasters in Wilmington said that “minor coastal flooding will linger the next two morning across local coastlines.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 5:44 PM.
