Numerous lightning strikes of structures and road flooding kept emergency crews up and down the Dare County beaches busy on Friday thanks to intense thunderstorms that were crawling across much of North Carolina.
More than a half-dozen fire calls were dispatched by Dare Central Communications between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in Kill Devil Hills, Duck and Southern Shores, all related to lightning strikes of homes.
No injuries or active fires were reported, but there was damage to structures and electrical appliances. Several trees were also knocked down by gusty winds or lightning.
#lightning flashes associated with that storm slamming the Southern Shores in the Outer Banks. #OBX #ncwx #LightningStrikes pic.twitter.com/SznAmOsukH
— Scott Nicholson (@MobileWxOffice) August 24, 2019
Amazing lightning over Rodanthe Pier#obx #outerbanks @CapeHatterasNPS pic.twitter.com/YCL5Ex7xcl
— Beth Whann (@Whannderbar) August 24, 2019
A flood advisory was issued until 12:45 a.m. Saturday from Duck to Kill Devil Hills, because some locations had already received more than three inches of rain since the afternoon.
Flooding was reported in the usual trouble spots along N.C. 12 and U.S. 158.
A Southern Shores resident reported 6.11 inches of rain had fallen at their house as of 10 p.m. on Friday.
Pretty amazing to see this line of super heavy rain organize west to east across NC over the last 30 minutes to 1 hour. Goes from Greensboro to the OBX. pic.twitter.com/8yVjVVLsMF
— Tim Buckley (@TimBuckleyWX) August 24, 2019
In lower Currituck County, a flood advisory was posted until 11:45 p.m. because radar indicated at least four inches of rain had fallen from Grandy south and more was expected.
The persistent storms also postponed season opening high school football games. Edenton at First Flight and Currituck at Manteo have been rescheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m.