See notes at the bottom of this story.
By Connie Leinbach
After visitors evacuated Ocracoke Monday, the island was quiet Tuesday afternoon as it awaited the arrival of Hurricane Erin.
Though forecast to stay well off the coast, the storm, one of the largest ever, is bringing high surf, and at high tide Tuesday afternoon around 5 p.m. is overwashing Highway 12, which is Ocracoke and Hatteras island’s main lifeline.
Updates from the National Weather Service have issued a storm surge and tropical storm warnings for the Outer Banks, from Ocracoke to Duck in Dare County. Wave heights might reach 20 feet.
The Hyde County commissioners declared an emergency on Sunday night and ordered a mandatory evacuation for visitors and residents, which followed the earlier action by Dare County ordering an evacuation of Hatteras Island.
Erik Heden of the National Weather Service in a webinar Tuesday afternoon said that the heaviest winds will arrive Wednesday afternoon into Thursday.
He said some sound side water elevation will occur on Thursday afternoon, diminishing that night and into Friday.
“The seas will be very rough with lots of wave energy,” he said, and multiple days of big swells will cause beach and dune erosion.
Reports say storm surge could be up to three feet.
On Tuesday, while the day was clear and relatively calm, the surf was not and has already become dangerous. People should use extreme caution when venturing out.
A truck pulled into the parking lot just north of the pony pasture only for the driver to be surprised as water poured onto the lot from the beach.
At high tide Tuesday afternoon, in the multiple banks of waves, the height appeared to be at least 10 feet, noted Aaron Walker, a Park Service employee, who watched the roiling surf at the northern pony pen parking lot where the water had already breached the dunes and was flowing over the parking lot and into the road.
Other islanders were out looking at the rising water in various places on the island.
Hyde County emergency services officials arrived on Ocracoke Tuesday afternoon and will stay until the storm passes.
But they said they are not so much worried about storm surge flooding in the village as they are the impacts the ocean battering will have on Highway 12.
Randal Mathews, Ocracoke’s county commissioner and board of commissioners chair, Hyde County Manager Kris Cahoon Noble, Joey Williams, Hyde County Emergency Management director, and Brook Cox, the EMS director, were set up in the Ocracoke Community Center Tuesday afternoon because Hurricane Erin will impact Ocracoke more than mainland Hyde County, Noble said.
All EMS personnel are remaining on Ocracoke, she said.
Williams said he ordered pallets of water and MREs for the island and Mathews said Tideland Electric Membership Cooperative has brought over electric poles, nine trucks and 14 additional linemen in case the power goes out.
“I’d rather be overprepared,” Williams said.
If communications go out, the island is equipped with an emergency WiFi system called Tekniam.
Tekniam modules are located at the Hyde County Sheriff’s office, the Community Center, the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Company, the community ballfield, the old firehouse where WOVV broadcasts, and several other locations throughout the village.
When an outage occurs, islanders can go to any of the buildings listed above, or just go outside, and search for Hyco-PubEmgyAccess and no password is needed.
However, this system is for WiFi calling, emails and text messages only, Mathews said. It does not compete with existing providers, such as Brightspeed, and so it cannot be used for web surfing or watching videos.
The Ocracoke United Methodist Church also has a Starlink connection that does not need a password.
On Monday, visitors queued up at the north end to depart, some only having just arrived on Ocracoke a day or two before for vacations.
Joe Vaccaro of Charlestown, West Virginia, was with a group in a total of three cars at about 2 p.m. Even though they were somewhat near the front of the line of about 100 cars, they had been in line since 11:30 that morning.
Not wanting to totally lose their vacation, Vaccaro said the group rented a house in Kitty Hawk, which was not under evacuation.
Christopher Morgan of Richmond, Virginia, was in line for three hours and expected to take the next ferry to Hatteras Island. He has been visiting Ocracoke for four years, enjoying activities like music, hiking, photography and kayaking.
He had just arrived on the weekend. While enjoying the music at 1718 Brewing Ocracoke, he received a text from his mother-in-law who was tracking Hurricane Erin and told him there was a mandatory evacuation.
Disappointed but not deterred, he said he plans to return for Blackbeard’s Pirate Jamboree in October, which coincides with his anniversary.
Notes:
The Ocracoke Variety Store closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday and will close at 7 p.m. Wednesday unless deteriorating weather prompts an earlier close time.
Hyde County Public Information issued the following:
Hurricane Erin evacuation shelter is at Warren County Parks & Rec, 113 Wilcox Street, Warrenton, NC 27589.
It opened Tuesday morning and can hold up to 400 people. Please take up to 7 days of clothes and medicine with you.
This is a pet-friendly shelter. Please take your pets with you when evacuating.
Approximate times of high tides in the next few days are as follows:
5:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday
6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday
7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Friday
The Ocracoke Convenience site will close at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Peter Vankevich contributed to this story.
