Insult to injury! First the storm, now Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stops flashing again

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on Nov. 18, 2019. [NPS photo]

After taking a pounding since the weekend from the wind and waves that has ground travel to-and-from Cape Hatteras to a halt, now the light atop the island’s iconic lighthouse has stopped rotating again.

The U.S. Coast Guard has been notified and a technician will be dispatched to fix the issue, according to a post Tuesday night on Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Facebook page.

While the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States is managed by the National Park Service, the light itself is maintained by the Coast Guard.

This is the third time this year the airport-style beacon has been stuck. The lighting system rotates with a pair of white spotlights creating a flash of light every 7.5 seconds that can be seen from up to 20 miles away.

In 2018, the light was disabled for roughly a month due to damage from a wave of winter storms, and the need for a replacement part for the rotator built in 1950 to be built from scratch.

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Sam Walker was news director for OBXToday.com, Beach 104, 99.1 The Sound, Big 94.5 WCMS and Z 92.3 from August 2011 to March 2022.