Residents, non-resident property owners and workers return Saturday; visitors Sunday. Hatteras Island roads are still being accessed.
As Tropical Storm Florence drifts south and west, the northern OBX, having suffered little damage from the storm, prepping to reopen. The mandatory evacuation order will be lifted in stages with residents allowed entry Saturday and (hopefully) all else Sunday.
Rob Morris writing for the Outer Banks Voice has the details.
From Dare County Emergency Management: Reentry for areas north of Oregon Inlet will begin on Saturday, September 15 at 7:00 a.m for Priorities Two and Three to include permanent residents, essential personnel for critical businesses, non resident property owners and non resident employees of non critical businesses. Priority One essential personnel are already able to access the county. It is anticipated that visitors will be allowed entry to areas north of Oregon Inlet beginning Sunday, September 16 at 7:00 a.m. There is no access to Hatteras Island at this time. N.C. Highway 12 on Hatteras Island remains closed due to ocean overwash and will remain closed until NCDOT can clear the road and bridges of debris, inspect for structural damage, and make repairs as necessary. Inspections will take place as soon as conditions allow.
Dare residents can come back Saturday; visitors Sunday
Hurricane Florence crossed onto land 300 miles south of the Outer Banks this morning, and the expansive storm continued throw some squalls and high surf onto the shoreline up to the Virginia line and beyond.
Hatteras Island is still shut down, but with flooding and damage minimal above Oregon Inlet, Dare County officials said in a statement this morning that they expect to start a phased re-entry onto the northern beaches Saturday morning.
“Permanent residents will be allowed re-entry with a valid NC driver’s license with a local address or a current Dare County property tax bill or parcel data sheet,” the statement said.
“Non-resident essential personnel of critical businesses such as food service/supply, pharmacies, banks, gas stations, property management, building supply and hotels will be permitted re-entry only with a permit.
“It is anticipated that visitors will be allowed entry to areas north of Oregon Inlet beginning Sunday, Sept. 16 at 7 a.m.”
They advised, however, that travelers should first check road conditions south and west of the Outer Banks.
Meanwhile, towns on Hatteras are flooded, however, and N.C. 12, the only access to the island, is closed. Water rescues were under way in historic New Bern, an inland town about 145 miles from Nags Head.
Because of conditions along N.C. 12 and in the villages, re-entry to Hatteras Island is still up in the air.
“We want to give NCDOT 24-to-36 hours to assess and work on Highway 12 and we still have standing water and other potential issues to deal with there,” Bob Woodard, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners said this morning.
“Also, there is a strong possibility of more ocean overwash during the next one or two high tide cycles.”
Woodard and other officials were on their way to Hatteras Island to assess the situation when he spoke to the Voice this morning.
“Our road crews inspected N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island this morning, and while there are still several areas of deep sand and standing water, we are cautiously optimistic that there is no apparent damage to the pavement,” the NCDOT posted on the Highway 12 Facebook page. “We expect more overwash over the next few high tide cycles, but hopefully things will gradually improve as Florence weakens and moves away from the area.”
Dare County officials said two National Guard four-wheel-drive ambulances and two humvees, each manned with two people, were stationed on Hatteras Island to help EMS with any calls for assistance.
Winds on the Outer Banks were running about 30 mph in most of the area, slightly less than yesterday. A UNC Coastal Studies Institute buoy off Nags Head recorded wave heights of about 13 feet this morning.
This morning, the National Hurricane Center said that the center of the storm was about 130 miles southwest of Buxton and heading west-northwest at 6 mph.
Maximum sustained winds were 90 mph, which will remain far south of the Outer Banks as the storm makes landfall today somewhere around Wilmington, N.C.
Florence is about 400 miles wide, with tropical storm force winds of at least 34 mph radiating 195 miles from the center and hurricane winds of 74 mph or more, 80 miles.
