Ocracoke, Portsmouth islands sustain season-ending damage

Published 6:53 pm Monday, September 9, 2019

While Hurricane Dorian eased by far enough east to leave Beaufort County relatively unscathed, Ocracoke was not as fortunate.

The eye of Hurricane Dorian moved over the island at approximately 7 a.m. Friday morning, bringing an oceanside storm surge and battering waves, in addition to wind gusts of up to 120 mph. According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, two 500-foot sections of N.C. Highway 12 between the town and the Hatteras ferry terminal were destroyed by ocean overwash.

In Dorian’s wake, however, came flooding that locals are calling “historic.” After the eye passed, a wall of water, pushed into the waterways to the west by the storm, rapidly surged back out. the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service graph released Friday showed the Pamlico Sound at Ocracoke rising to major flood level in the space of an hour, from a foot below normal to 6.37 feet.

According to residents who remained on the island during the storm, the damage is immense. A bridge to Oyster Creek is no longer usable by vehicles; vehicles, boats and RVs parked in the National Park Service parking lot were picked up and tossed around by the floodwaters. Only three of the island’s many restaurants did not flood: Zillie’s, 1718 Brewery and Flying Melon. Both the Ocracoke School and Ocracoke Library were flooded.

BREACHED: N.C. Highway 12 on Ocracoke was overcome by ocean overwash during Hurricane Dorian. The road remains closed north of the town and all Hatteras/Ocracoke ferries are being rerouted to the Silver Lake ferry terminal. (North Carolina Department of Aviation)

Books to Be Read, the island’s book store was flooded, as well, and owner Leslie Lanier was handing out dry books for residents to read on Sunday.

Many business owners have decided not to reopen for the rest of the season, which generally runs until the end of October.

Initially, water service was cut to the island’s residents due to compromised water mains. Service returned Sunday, but with a boil water alert. Electricity remains out on the island, as all properties must be checked to make sure meters were not underwater during the flood.

Monday, NCDOT began allowing those permanent Ocracoke residents who evacuated back onto the island, though boarding priority remains for first responders and deliveries deemed critical to recovery, according to a press release from Hyde County.

“Be aware that we have limited resources on the island and your home may not be habitable. We still do not have power and are under a boil water advisory. We do not have any shelters on the island for displaced residents to use. Make sure you bring anything you may need for your day to day life when you come back,” the press release stated.

AFTERMATH: The Anchorage Inn parking lot is full of mattresses in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. The Ocracoke hotel’s first floor was inundated with floodwater after Dorian’s eye passed Friday morning. (Margaret Trainer)

As N.C. 12 is impassable to the north, all Hatteras/Ocracoke ferries are arriving to and leaving from Silver Lake. The one-way Hatteras/Ocracoke trip now takes 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Re-entry restrictions for visitors to Ocracoke remain in effect, the press release stated.

South of Ocracoke, the historic town of Portsmouth also received extension damage.

According to a press release from the National Park Service, there was major wind and/or flooding damage to 38 historic structures in Portsmouth Village.

Portsmouth started its life in the 17th century as a stopping point to lighten the loads of big cargo ships so ships could travel through the shallow inlets. By the mid-1970s, the remote island was vacated completely by the last of its villagers.

Those who day stay on Portsmouth Island either camp or rent the Long Point cabins, managed by the National Park Service. However, extensive damage from Dorian has brought the rental season to a close early, according to the press release.

SWEPT AWAY: Boats and vehicles stored on the higher land of the National Park Service’s parking lot near the Ocracoke/Swan Quarter ferry were swept down the road by floodwaters that rose rapidly in a short period of time. (Margaret Trainer)

“There are major damages to the infrastructure at the Long Point cabin camp, including a major breach of an ocean inlet cut through to Core Sound,” the release states.

Farther south along the North Core Banks, Hurricane Dorian created 54 new inlets cutting through from the Atlantic Ocean to Core Sound.