HATTERAS, N.C. — North Carolina Department of Transportation reopen NC 12 between Oregon Inlet and Rodanthe on Wednesday.
The portion of N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island had been closed since 5 p.m. Saturday. A powerful storm washed out several dunes and blew sand and ocean overwash onto the road. Photographer Daniel Pullen took photos of the aftermath of the storm in Hatteras and said it was powerful.
"It was essentially almost hurricane strength. I think they recorded gusts of almost 70 miles an hour. There was just a lot of sand blowing around, and the ocean was inundating everything,” said Pullen. Pullen said that islanders are used to NC-12 getting closed during the storm, but he said that it’s important that the road re-opens soon.
"NC-12 is our lifeline, it's our only highway onto Hatteras Island, and right now, it's our only way on and off Hatteras Island,” said Pullen. Pullen said locals need the road open so that they could get back to work and have resources again.
"If you have a job up the road, you can't make it to your job, they haven't been able to get mail off the island. We can't get delivery trucks on the island for groceries,” said Pullen.
On Tuesday morning, NCDOT officials said they didn't see any structural damage to the road and the road is no longer experiencing ocean overwash. However, areas of N.C. 12 between Rodanthe and Oregon Inlet were still covered with standing water and sand.
NCDOT crews and contractors cleared sand and debris from the highway throughout the week to make the road safe for travel.
NCDOT crews also inspected N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island Monday afternoon and saw no additional structural damage. Transportation officials said the storm did cause some dune breaches on Ocracoke Island within the area still being repaired from Hurricane Dorian. That portion of N.C. 12 has remained closed since Dorian struck in early September.
The weekend’s storm will delay the scheduled reopening of the Ocracoke Island section of N.C. 12. At this time, officials are still assessing the road to determine what repairs will be needed to enable the road to be reopened.
