More Rain Coming; Hwy. 12 Closed On Ocracoke

Hyde County expecting heavy rain and sound side flooding.

With forecasts for heavy rain and a strong northeast wind to impact Hyde County tonight, October 4, 2015 and tomorrow October 5, 2015, Hyde County officials have decided to continue to prohibit visitor access to Ocracoke Island until further notice.

Access to Ocracoke is ONLY granted to emergency personnel, utilities, vendors, residents, and property owners with proper identification. 

Conditions on Ocracoke Island:   The National Weather Service is predicting 3-5 inches of rain for Ocracoke Island over the next 48 hours. A northeast wind is expected to build to 30 MPH with gusts between 40-45 MPH.

HWY 12 is closed north of the Pony Pens due to a breach in the dunes estimated to be 340 feet in length. NCDOT was able to fill a smaller, secondary breach yesterday but HWY 12 remains extremely vulnerable to high surf and over wash. 

The Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry route is suspended until HWY 12 reopens. The NC Ferry Division has also suspended the Cedar Island-Ocracoke route due flooding on roads in Cedar Island, and will not resume operations until road conditions improve.

Local flooding on roads in Ocracoke Village remains to be an issue, likely to worsen with additional rain this evening. Drivers should continue to exercise extreme caution. There has been no loss of power on Ocracoke, however Tideland EMC is reporting outages in other communities in their service area.

Conditions on Mainland Hyde County:

The National Weather Service is predicting 1-3 inches of rain for mainland Hyde County. A strong northeast wind, expected to last for several days, will likely exacerbate sound side flooding conditions in low-lying areas.   Currently all the major roads in and out of Swan Quarter are open, though water is starting to accumulate in certain areas of NC HWY 264 near Scranton. Several low-lying local roads are inundated with high water and drivers should exercise caution.

Farmers are reporting thousands of acres of damaged crops due to flooding. Hyde County Emergency Services Department is working with local drainage districts to pump water out of residential areas and roads. Swan Quarter is reporting the highest water levels since Hurricane Isabel.

Next Hyde County advisory scheduled for Monday, October 5, 2015 at 11:30 a.m.