The forecast track of Hurricane Arthur took a jog to the west and everything changed for the OBX. Effective at 5 am this morning, Hatteras Island was under a mandatory evacuation order. The evacuation order does not effect any part of the Outer Banks north of Oregon Inlet.
The evacuation of Hatteras seems a reasonable precaution. Every forecast model shows Arthur tracking immediately parallel to the Outer Banks between Ocracoke and Cape Hatteras and the effects of the storm will be significantly greater there. There are some concerns about overwash closing SR12 especially at the S Curves north of Rodanthe.
Hurricane Arthur is starting to accelerate as anticipated, which will, hopefully, minimize it’s effects. If it continues along its predicted path, most of the storm will occur overnight Thursday evening into Friday and should be out of here by Friday afternoon.
Here is a short list of closures and rescheduled events:
The National Park Service is closing all of its campgrounds and its facilities. The visitor’s centers on Ocracoke and Hatteras Island are also closed.
The Bodie Island Visitor Center, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site will close on Thursday and Friday.
Bodie Island Lighthouse and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse are closed and will reopen on Saturday.
No driving on National Park beaches is allowed, either.
Fireworks: If you love fireworks, Arthur kinda did you a favor.
If you play your cards right you can see fireworks three nights in a row! Click on the links below for more info.
The Whalehead Club in Corolla will set off their fireworks on Monday, July 7.
The Town of Nags Head and the Town of Kill Devil Hills have rescheduled their pyrotechnics for Saturday.
The Town of Manteo will light the sky on Sunday evening.
Avon will be rocking it out on Monday.
Town of Duck-July 4th Parade
The Town of Duck has cancelled their July 4th Parade. It will not be rescheduled.
The Lost Colony has cancelled this evening’s show. This means the next show will be Saturday, July 5th, as traditionally the show is dark on the 4th of July.
Miscellany:
Kill Devil Hills will NOT be collecting garbage on Friday, July 4th. The Town will collect all commercial customers, and west side residential customers on SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014.