HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. (WAVY) — Crews were still working Wednesday to get NC 12 back in shape, as sand and ocean overwash during Hurricane Erin caused problems for residents and visitors.
For awhile, it was closed until workers could clear it.
“First thing we did was we went online to get a ferry reservation,” one person said. “I think we might have gotten the last spot.”
It has been 10 days since the order to evacuate Ocracoke Island, the tourists first and then residents two days later.
In the following days, the North Carolina Department of Transportation did what they called a dune tune, removing sand from Highway 12, which is the only road in and out from the south.
“We are basically shoring up this protective dune structure here,” Hass said, “to again make NC 12 in as good a shape as possible.”
Hurricane Erin never made landfall, with the eve of the storm more than 200 miles out to sea, but its high winds led to tropical storm conditions and coastal flooding across the Outer Banks.
“Starting last Monday, the overwash got a little bit more severe every time until finally, Wednesday evening, on the 20th, we closed down the road from the Basnight Bridge, Oregon Inlet, all the way to Hatteras Village,” Hass said, “and then, of course, on the north end of Ocracoke from the ferry terminal to the pony pens.”
During the height of the storm, from Pea Island to Buxton and Hatteras Village to Ocracoke, dune breakage and overwash flooded NC 12, leaving the road covered in sand.
“It was just a matter of storm surge from Hurricane Erin,” Hass said. “And that storm was so large and so wide that it was pushing storm surge up on us, even thogh the hurricane never came ashore. So that is what overtops the dunes, that is what causes dune breaches.”
NC 12 is currently open from end-to-end, but there is a thin layer of sand on the north end of Ocracoke. The folks at NCDOT say the road is passable, and encourage people to drive on it.