The National Weather Service out of Newport/Morehead City has issued a warning that a weather system in the waters off the southeast is expected to bring a variety of impacts to the Outer Banks and northeastern North Carolina, especially Monday and Tuesday, and it could become the eighth tropical cyclone of 2024.
Forecasters say the latest disturbance (shown by the X in the graphic below) has a 50% chance of becoming tropical. Whether or not this system becomes tropical, it has the potential to develop very quickly, with less lead time than normal.
Gusty winds from ENE in the 20-mph range will begin late Sunday morning and rain beginning early Monday morning has the potential to bring 4 to 6 inches on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands. This may cause overwash on NC 12 and minor coastal flooding that could make travel on both islands difficult.
This system will bring high surf and dangerous rip current and hazardous marine conditions.
The next tropical storm will be named Helene. Tropical Storm Gordon, named on Friday after a month lull of storm activity, is currently not a threat to land.
Former Peace Corps volunteers who live on Ocracoke are, seated, Matt and Mary Rueff, Barry and Karen Burgan and Al and Linda Scarborough. Standing from left, Shea Youell, Sonya Allen, Henry Schliff, Ralph Buxton, Jack Whitehead and Vera Buxton. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke
By Sonya Allen
What is it about Ocracoke that can boast of 13 former service corps members?
Maybe it’s the general concern for others many residents have.
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy founded the American Peace Corps in 1961, asking university students to volunteer in remote areas overseas.
He posed the challenge: “How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling worldwide?”
On remote Ocracoke Island, 12 former Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and one AmeriCorps member answered that call and now live on Ocracoke among their 1,000+ neighbors.
Al and Linda Scarborough served together in Cameroon, Africa. They married and eventually returned to Al’s roots.
Linda and Al Scarbough in West Cameroon, Africa.
“We stayed in Ocracoke because we had a house and history here,” Linda said. “The Peace Corps taught me that there is not just one way to live. It gave me a worldview I wouldn’t have had if I stayed in Ohio.”
For years, Al coached boys’ basketball, and Linda ran the Girl Scout troop.
Ralph and Vera Buxton served on tiny Bocas del Toro Island in Panama, establishing a hospital and teaching sanitation.
When they retired to Ocracoke, they continued to give back by volunteer teaching at the school.
“We came here because we saw what we liked,” Vera said. “It’s the ultimate in community living. We enjoy the lifestyle we learned to love in the Peace Corps and see a reflection of it on Ocracoke. This is something the locals have known and lived for over 250 years.”
Barry and Karen Burgan in the Philippines.
Barry and Karen Burgan went from teaching fish farming in the Philippines to becoming EPA environmentalists before moving to Ocracoke.
“At heart, we are island people,” Karen said. Both grew up on Long Island, New York, met in Jamaica, became marine biologists, and served together on Siquijor Island.
Now, they help however they can, from folding T-shirts to serving food at events.
Rachael Chestnut, whose college major was Peace Studies at George Washington University and who served as an AmeriCorps volunteer, says many islanders pitch in. She is the Hyde County Board of Education representative for Ocracoke.
“We do it for the sole purpose of bettering the community,” she said. “Unlike in other areas, there’s no showboating about it.”
Matt and Mary Rueff served as teachers in Swaziland in the 1980s.
After decades in the workaday grind, they moved here this year.
“Some friends told us, ‘You should visit Ocracoke,’” Matt said. ‘It’s not like any other island in the Outer Banks.’ The community came first for us. It’s about meeting and really talking to people.”
They enjoy cheering on the school teams and getting to know their new neighbors.
Shea Youell with his Macedonia students.
Ocracoke High School math teacher Shea Youell began his teaching career on Ocracoke, then spent three years teaching in Macedonia before returning to Ocracoke to continue teaching.
“I think success in both places depends on building strong relationships,” he said. “That’s something I learned and took with me from Ocracoke. Building community is everything. You can think you know it all, but none of that matters unless people feel like they know you.”
The sense of community resonated with everyone interviewed.
However they got to Ocracoke—whether through family, vacations, or jobs—they recognized something special that was already established.
Ocracoke seems to represent a microcosm of the worldviews and ideals that JFK envisioned when founding the Peace Corps—a community that thrives on mutual aid, volunteerism and the intrinsic value of helping one another to survive and flourish.
Sonya Allen, second from bottom right, with high school students in Ploiesti, Romania.
That could be said of the Ocracoke community, which has flourished away from the madding crowds for generations.
Almost everyone who comes here volunteers for something. It’s not an official government-appointed role with external rewards attached.
Instead, it’s a way of life, a means of survival on this remote strip of sand.
The following are PCVs and foreign service officers that live or have lived on Ocracoke Island:
Sonya (Dobbins) Allen, PCV Romania; Barry and Karen Burgan, PCV Philippines; Ralph and Vera Buxton, PCV Panama; Rachael (Pulwers) Chestnut, AmeriCorps, Calif.; the late Leonard Meeker, Ambassador to Romania, whose wife, Beverly, still lives on Ocracoke; Mary (Zuverink) and Matt Rueff, PCV Swaziland; Linda (Smith) and Al Scarborough, PCV West Cameroon; Henry Schliff, PCV Turkey; Jack Whitehead, PCV Fiji Islands; Shea Youell, PCV Macedonia.
Rachael Chestnut is the AmeriCorp alum.
Sonya Allen is an artist and the author of “Living Abroad: Dark Humor for PCV’s and Expats.”
Here is what the ballot will look like for those voting on Ocracoke.
The North Carolina Board of Elections announced on Friday that absentee ballots will go out to military and overseas voters on Sept. 20 and all other voters who requested them will go out on Sept. 24
County boards were prepared to send absentee ballots out on Sept. 6, the deadline for absentee ballots to be sent under state law.
However, rulings by the N.C. Court of Appeals and N.C. Supreme Court required election officials to remove the We The People party line from the presidential contest on the ballot, including the party’s presidential nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and vice-presidential nominee, Nicole Shanahan, according to a release by the North Carolina Board of Elections.
This schedule ensures that North Carolina will meet the federal law requirement to distribute ballots to voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) by the 45th day before the election–Sept. 21.
In North Carolina, any registered voter can vote an absentee ballot, after submitting a request for the ballot. Voters can request their absentee ballot at votebymail.ncsbe.gov.The deadline for absentee requests is Oct. 29.
However, election officials urge voters who wish to vote by mail to request their ballot soon, so that ballots can be completed and returned to the voter’s county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Election Day–Nov. 5.
As of Sept. 12, more than 166,000 voters, including more than 13,600 military and overseas voters, have requested ballots. Election staff are preparing the online portal for electronic delivery and return of ballots that is available for military and overseas citizen voters.
Due to the timelines for the printing, delivery and assembly of all absentee ballots in every county, the State Board concluded that the only way to meet the federal deadline for military and overseas citizens was to establish separate dates for distributing absentee ballots.
State Board staff have arranged for special on-demand ballot printers to be positioned around the state to fulfill any orders for military and overseas citizen ballots for counties whose orders from their print vendors will not arrive in time for those ballots to be prepared for mailing by next Friday. These special printers can print any ballot style approved for use in the state. There are nearly 2,350 different ballot styles statewide for this election.
Meanwhile, staff will work over the weekend and through next week to prepare the online portal for electronic delivery and return of ballots that is available for military and overseas citizen voters. Nearly 90% of military and overseas citizen voters opt for this electronic ballot delivery feature.
This plan allows time for the much larger orders of absentee ballots for all other voters to be printed and delivered to the county boards in time for counties to prepare their outgoing absentee ballot packages for mailing on Sept. 24.
“This schedule is only possible because of the hard work of elections professionals across this state that will continue throughout the next week,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “Because of them, we expect to meet the federal deadline for ballot delivery, and North Carolinians can finally start voting in this important election.”
The release noted that the State Board has received many questions about the statewide cost of reprinting ballots. Preliminary estimates show the costs vary widely by county, depending on how many ballots must be reprinted and other factors. Estimates range from a few thousand dollars in some smaller counties to $18,000 in Caldwell County, $55,100 in Durham County and $300,000 in Wake County, home to the most registered voters in the state.
Here are key dates and deadlines for the 2024 general election in North Carolina: Sept. 20: Ballots distributed to military and overseas citizen voters who have requested them. Sept. 24: Absentee ballots distributed to all other voters who have requested them. Oct. 11: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.)* Oct. 17: In-person early voting begins; same-day registration available. Oct. 24 and 25: Ocracoke early voting will be two days only: from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department Oct. 29: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.).* Nov. 5: General Election *Voter registration and absentee voting deadlines are different for military and overseas citizen voters.
Due to the heavy rains on Friday, Sept. 13, and expected showers on Saturday, Sept. 14, the Ocracoke Island-Wide Yard Sale is postponed to Sunday, Sept. 15.
Hours are the same: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but some participants may have canceled.
The rain date of Sept. 15, 2024, for the Island-Wide Yard Sale has been activated.
The Ocracoke post office is now providing passport services during open hours.
It’s a full service including taking photos and making passport cards, which are not actual passports but are license-like cards travelers can use only for Canada and Mexico.
Real ID is good for travel only within the United States and its territories while passports are needed for international travel.
“I’m glad to be able to provide (this service) to the community,” said Postmaster Celeste Brooks.
She explained the following about what documents are needed for passports:
New passport for individuals or families: Certified birth certificate, photo ID, Certificate of Naturalization, or Certificate of Citizenship. Birth certificates can be ordered from your county of birth.
Expired: The old passport and your certified birth certificate. Passports are valid for 10 years.
Renewal: The old passport plus a driver’s license and the proper form filled out.
Name change: Certified marriage license or divorce decree.
Walk-ins are welcome, Brooks said, but you can also go online to www.usps.com and set up an appointment.
“For convenience sake, the online works really well,” she said.
That way you know you are set and won’t have to come back if the post office staff couldn’t take you right away.
Costs differ for the various services.
The service at the Ocracoke post office, which Brooks has tried to get for 10 years, complements the service available in the Engelhard post office because passport services aren’t available at the courthouse in Swan Quarter.
Passport services in Dare County are available in the Kitty Hawk and Buxton post offices.
The internet and phone outage caused by a damaged fiber optic cable on Pea Island Monday afternoon was repaired, and digital communications on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands was restored around 7:30 p.m.
At about 1:10 on Monday, a fiber optic cable was damaged, including 911 phone service, in the vicinity of the Pea Island Visitors Center, and a repair crew was dispatched, according to a Dare Emergency Services alert. The same message was also broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio stations in Buxton and Mamie in Currituck.
That is the same area where NCDOT crews had to rebuild dunes along NC 12 that were washed out by rough surf on Sunday.
Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative (CHEC), which feeds electricity to Ocracoke, reported that the fiber cut did not affect electric service to the islands.
CHEC reported to its customers that if they are off island and could not “see” their homes through devices like security systems or thermostats, this does not mean that the power is out, but rather Internet and cellular capabilities have failed.
Ocracoke’s county commissioner Randal Mathews got the Tekniam system in place last year after several such fiber cuts and he is working on expanding this system.
He said Dare County uses the CRDs because the area from Pea Island to Hatteras is too large to establish a Tekniam system.
When internet and phone is lost, people on Ocracoke can go to the places that have the Tekniam modules, or places with Starlink, to get onto the internet.
Tekniam modules are located at the Hyde County Sheriff’s office, the Community Center, the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Company and the Harborside Motel.
When an outage occurs, islanders can go to any of the buildings listed above and search for HYCO and no password is needed
Another access line is: OINC-BIZ. The password for that is: TEKbiz456!
Several visitors joined the Ocracoke Observer staff in the Community Center to access the Tekniam system.
“It’s the first time I’ve been in the Community Center in the 40 years I’ve been coming here,” noted Matt Amoroso of Philadelphia.
His companion, Kate Rack, had to use the internet for a work project and was happy to take a few minutes away from the beach to finish a job.
“I don’t like not knowing what’s going on,” she said about the outage, “but this is an amazing resource.”
Several other visitors and islanders wandered to the Community Center during the afternoon to tap into the internet.
Others went to The Ocracoke United Methodist Church, whose doors are open and which has Starlink with no password needed.
Friday, Sept. 13 What’s Happening on Ocracoke: Jenna Brinn, Behavioral Health Nurse, will provide information about services available at the RHA Mobile Mental Health Clinic on Ocracoke on WOVV, 11:30, 90.1 FM and wovv.org MiniBar/Ocracoke Coffee: Kate McNally, 6-8pm The Breeze: Corey Stuart Band, 9 pm
Saturday, Sept. 14 MiniBar/Ocracoke Coffee: music TBD Island-wide Yard Sale: 9 am to 4 pm. Postponed to the rain date Sept. 15 The Breeze: Corey Stuart Band, 9 pm
Sunday, Sept. 15 Island-wide Yard Sale: 9 am to 4 pm. (rain date Sept. 15) Church services: Life Saving Church, 459 Lighthouse Rd., worship, 11am Ocracoke United Methodist Church: 71 School Rd., worship, 11 am. Streaming via its Facebook page Stella Maris Catholic Chapel: 95 School Road, Mass, 3:30 pm
The Island Inn Commons Garden is a haven for butterflies. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer
The Island Inn Commons Garden project has registered with the NC Wildlife Federation and is now a member of the Butterfly Highway.
The Butterfly Highway is a statewide conservation restoration initiative that aims to restore native pollinator habitats to areas impacted by urbanization, land use change and agriculture across North Carolina,” according to the NCWF. “From backyard pollinator pitstops to large-scale roadside habitat restoration, the project is creating a network of native flowering plants to support butterflies, bees, birds and other pollen and nectar dependent wildlife.”
“When we first began talking about and planning the IIC Garden we talked at length about how important it was to us to incorporate native plants to help support pollinators,” said Heather Johnson, one of the principals of the project, in a Facebook post. “We have intentionally picked and planted native species plants: milkweed, coral honeysuckle, Joe Bells, echinacea, black-eyed Susans, to name a few.”
The Gulf fritillary is a common butterfly on Ocracoke in late summer into fall. Photo: P. Vankevich
An entire bed of wildflowers and more native species have been planted.
“A little over a year ago, when we first began installing the garden, there was very little wildlife activity on the site,” Johnson said. “Now there is a constant chatter of birds and bees buzzing about and all sorts of critters making a home. It’s been so fun to watch life spring up around the site. We are very much looking forward to continuing our efforts in creating a beautiful space for people & wildlife to enjoy.”
The Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum front garden and the British Cemetery also have been registered in the Butterfly Highway.
To learn more about The Butterfly Highway, you can visit the NCWF site here:
To learn more about the Garden project or to make a donation, visit http://www.Ocracoke PreservationSociety.org.
The Island Inn building also is seeing progress as siding was installed in August. Eventually, it will house a visitor center and office space for some of the island non-profit groups.
The garden and grounds will eventually host events, both public and private, but that is still some time off.
The Island Inn shows restoration progress with the addition of siding. Photo by Heather Johnson
Eagle Pass intersection. Photo by Donna Barnett/Island Free Press
HATTERAS – N.C. Department of Transportation contractors will close Eagle Pass Road in Hatteras Village beginning Sept. 9 for drainage improvements and resurfacing.
The road will be open to local traffic only during the closure.
All through traffic will be diverted to N.C. 12, with barricades at both north and south intersections.
The temporary closure will allow for two cross pipe replacements to be completed, as well as the resurfacing of the entire road. Work is expected to end by Sept. 16.
Drivers should remain alert through the area and follow all posted traffic and detour signs during the closure.
Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Company Chief Albert O’Neal and Brian Kissel boat down Sunset Road after Hurricane Dorian inundated the island Sept. 6, 2019. Photo: C. Leinbach
Five years ago today, islanders woke up to an inundated island brought on by Hurricane Dorian.
Several areas of the island previously deemed high enough to withstand a hurricane storm surge lost that designation as the Dorian surge of 7.4 feet swept over the island around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2019.
The community reeled as more than 400 homes and buildings were flooded; many homes and beloved icons, such as the former Captain Ben’s and the school, had to be torn down. More than 300 vehicles were totaled. On the mainland United States, Ocracoke received the worst impact of this category 1 storm.
The Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department immediately became the command center where food and supplies were housed and distributed and where local officials and volunteers coordinated the massive relief effort of clean up, recovery and rebuilding.
Because Ocracoke does not have the required large population, it did not qualify for a FEMA personal assistance declaration, but the state of North Carolina awarded Hyde County two $650,000 grants to be used for rebuilding.
Many individuals and groups sent much-needed supplies. More than $1 million was donated through contributions via the Outer Banks Community Foundation.
The Ocracoke Interfaith Relief & Recovery Team was founded as a nonprofit to manage the three+ years of rebuilding and it can be activated as a contribution receiver should such an emergency strike the island.
Dozens of buildings have been raised in an effort to withstand future flooding and more are scheduled to be raised in the coming months.
Ocracoke residents remember and greatly appreciate the generosity and support by so many individuals and organizations that rushed to help out an island in need.
Islanders have become wary of future storms, and the experience of Dorian has a had psychological impact.
“It’s not if, but when another Dorian-level hurricane will strike,” has been an observation shared by many.
Although Ocracoke has been fortunate not to have had another hurricane since, the island has been battered by several northeasters that have seriously eroded the north end of the island, demolishing the stacking lanes at the South Dock ferry terminal and causing frequent overwash at the narrow area of NC 12 on the north end.
How Ocracoke can withstand drastic changes due to rising sea levels is the subject of a study launched recently by the National Park Service.
Hurricane season lasts from June into November and while some Atlantic disturbances are happening, none are bearing down on the Outer Banks at the moment. It’s too early to say we have avoided another catastrophe.
The National Weather Service will hold four hurricane community forums over the next three weeks to coincide with the traditional peak of hurricane season. Forums will be held in Greenville, Hatteras, Pollocksville and Belhaven.
