Coastal flooding threat continues in parts of the Outer Banks this week, two more houses collapse
From our news services
The National Weather Service forecasts that although the unusually high tides have already peaked and are continuing to recede, they will still cause light to locally moderate coastal flooding through Tuesday, according to a news release issued Sunday afternoon.
A coastal flood warning remains in effect from Duck to the village of Ocracoke through Tuesday afternoon.
Water levels are expected to continue to rise by 30 to 60 cm above bottom on the ocean side and up to 30 cm above bottom on the sound side, particularly at high tide.
At the north end of Ocracoke, water entered NC12, making travel difficult, but ferry service was not suspended. In Ocracoke Village, water rose in many of the low-lying marshes and roadside ditches, but did not flood the roads.
The NCDOT said NC12 on Ocracoke Island will remain open and accessible with extreme caution and reduced speeds.
On Sunday, the water was 10 to 18 centimetres deep in places, especially at the edge of the southbound lane. Emergency services were on site and tried to remedy the situation where the water was deepest.
On Hatteras Island, rough surf and a higher than normal tidal current contributed to the collapse of two homes on GA Kohler Court in Rodanthe on Friday.
Over the weekend, north-south currents carried the debris more than 20 miles south between Avon and Buxton. National Park Service employees, contractors hired by one of the homeowners, and volunteers worked to collect the remains.
A high risk of rip currents and hazardous surf is also reported for the ocean on Monday.
The National Hurricane Center is closely monitoring a disturbance in the western Caribbean that is forecast to develop into a tropical cyclone and threaten the Gulf Coast states by the end of this week.
It is still too early to say whether this system will impact eastern North Carolina, but most models predict that the center of circulation will be far west of us.
The NCDOT Ferry Division provides real-time text or email alerts of its routes through the Ferry Information Notification System (FINS) at www.ncdot.gov/fins. System-wide route status updates are also posted on the Ferry Division’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
