Roads open, power on in Beaufort County

Published 1:21 pm Sunday, October 28, 2012

Courtesy National Weather Service/National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Sandy continues to move to the northeast at 14 mph, according to the 11 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm is expected to continue in this general direction through the day with a turn toward the north tonight followed by a turn to the north-northwest on Monday.

The center of the storm was located roughly 250 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras. Sandy remains a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. Forecasters do not anticipate any significant strengthening over the next few days.

A tropical-storm warning remains in effect for portions of North Carolina from Cape Fear to Duck, covering Beaufort, Tyrrell, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico, Craven, Carteret and Onslow counties and including the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.

A flood watch remains in effect through Monday morning for the following counties: Beaufort, Tyrrell, Dare, Hyde, Craven, Carteret, Jones, Pamlico, Washington and Onslow.

Rainfall amounts will range from one to three inches east of U.S. Highway 17 to three to five inches from the Albemarle Sound to the Outer Banks. This has the potential to produce flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

The flood threat will taper off across most of the area this afternoon as the rain lessens from west to east.

As of noon Sunday, there were no significant flooding issues and all roads in Beaufort County remained opened, according to John Pack, Beaufort County’s emergency-management director. Pack also indicated there were no major power outages but cautioned that we were facing another 24 hours of bad weather.

Sarah Hodges, public information officer with Beaufort County Schools, said that no decision had been made concerning the opening of schools on Monday as of noon Sunday.