UPDATED: N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island still closed as storm starts to move away

November 8, 2021 OBX Today
Buxton at the motels on Monday morning. [courtesy Matthew Coats/Island Free Press]

Overwash from a nor’easter that is slowly pulling away from the coast flooded N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island Monday, and the road remains closed to traffic between Oregon Inlet and Rodanthe.

N.C. Department of Transportation crews have been working to move the sand that has washed onto the road on Pea Island as conditions allowed, but much of that work was being undone by surf that has topped 10 feet since late Friday and near-record high tides.

Forecasts indicate the near-record tidal levels peaked on Monday morning, and with winds and seas slowly subsiding, NCDOT is still hopeful they can reopen the road to traffic sometime on Tuesday.

Cape Hatteras Elementary School and Cape Hatteras Secondary School will be closed for staff and students on Tuesday due to the conditions. Students are encouraged to complete remote assignments.

Coastal flood warnings and high surf advisories continue through Tuesday morning.

Overhead view of North Buxton on Monday morning. [Matthew Coats/Island Free Press photo]
A vehicle wades through the water flowing across N.C. 12 at the Cape Hatteras Motel in Buxton. [Orville Scarborough/Island Free Press photo]
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The highway closed north of Rodanthe during Sunday morning’s high tide due to ocean overwash, with multiple dune breaches reported on Pea Island, leading to exacerbated flooding, according to The Island Free Press.

Ocean overwash on Sunday morning in Rodanthe. [Courtesy Dare County Emergency Management]
Ocean overwash has been reported since Sunday in northern Buxton, northern Hatteras village, Pea Island, northern Rodanthe, and in Avon along Ocean View Drive with some water standing along N.C. 12 in the Kinnakeet Shores area.

There was also some minor overwash on N.C. 12 with Monday’s high tide along northern Ocracoke Island.

N.C. 12 on the northern Ocracoke Island Monday morning. [courtesy Island Free Press]

Due to high winds, the ferries between Hatteras and Ocracoke, as well as the Ocracoke-Cedar Island and Ocracoke-Swan Quarter have started running on the following limited schedule:

  • Hatteras-Ocracoke: Noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m., midnight
  • Ocracoke-Hatteras: 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.
  • Ocracoke-Swan Quarter: 1:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.
  • Swan Quarter-Ocracoke: 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.
  • Ocracoke-Cedar Island: 4:30 p.m.
  • Cedar Island-Ocracoke: 1:30 p.m.

Some ferry routes are still suspended, due to impacts from the storm. The Currituck-Knotts Island ferries have been suspended due to water levels too low to operate.

Soundside flooding was also reported in Hatteras village, Frisco, and Ocracoke village Sunday afternoon and evening.

Flooding Sunday morning on low-lying Widgeon Woods Road in Ocracoke. [photo: Peter Vankevich, OcracokeObserver.com]
Sustained winds of 30-40 mph blew over the Outer Banks throughout the day Sunday, with a peak gust of 65 mph reported at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head.

This storm is now one for the books as the Duck Corps of Engineers Pier recorded the fourth-highest tide on record and could top that mark with Monday’s high tide, which was at 9:45 a.m.

Due to adverse weather conditions, Dare County Public Works will not collect residential or commercial trash in the Town of Kitty Hawk or the unincorporated areas of Dare County on Monday.

The new schedule will be as follows as long as conditions improve enough to allow trash collection to resume on Tuesday, November 9, 2021.

  • Tuesday, November 9, 2021, and Thursday, November 11, 2021—Residential collection will take place in Kitty Hawk, Colington, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras Village.
  • Wednesday, November 10, 2021, and Friday, November 12, 2021—Residential collection will take place in Manteo, Wanchese, East Lake, Stumpy Point, Manns Harbor, Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo and Avon.
  • Commercial trash collection will take place countywide on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, and Friday, November 12, 2021.

Please keep all trash cans secured and put them out the night before your anticipated collection day.

The Town of Nags Head has rescheduled all residential sanitation collection will occur on Tuesday and Friday next week. Please DO NOT roll any carts to the street until Monday evening.

If you are in the Sector Two bulk item/brush collection area in Nags Head, do not place your items for collection by the road until Monday night.

Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head beaches remain closed to off-road vehicles until conditions subside.

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