It was an interesting weekend on Hatteras Island. The nor’easter that’s headed out to sea sure churned things up a bit.
The good news is, though, that between beach nourishment in Buxton and getting the Jug Handle Bridge finished, a storm that probably would have had NC12 closed for a bit, had traffic flowing the whole time. A little bit slowly at times; there was some sand that got dumped on the road by the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, but traffic was never halted. And even more importantly, no ocean overwash.
Up until the Jug Handle Bridge was finished last summer, a storm like what we just had would probably have washed over the dunes at the S curves just north of Rodanthe. NCDOT always did a great job of getting traffic moving again, but it was always inconvenient to not be able to drive to the northern Outer Banks, even if for just a few hours.
They did have to suspend service on the Hatteras/Ocracoke Ferry on Sunday. That was expected. There doesn’t seem to be an easy answer to that one. When the waves are running at 6-8’, it’s just not safe to make the crossing to Ocracoke.
Service is back on track today, even though it a little bit choppy out there.
The storm certainly had some wind with it, too. Wind gusts up to 56 mph were recorded at Avon. A little further up that beach at Oregon Inlet gusts were blowing at 51 mph.
And, of course, there was a lot of rain. Two inches down in Ocracoke and about the same at Hatteras Village.
But the sun was back out again today. Tomorrow looks the same only a little warmer, so things are back to Hatteras Island normal.
From Hatteras Village to Corolla, Brindley Beach Vacations has the perfect home for your vacation. Be sure to make your summer reservation today.