9am Hurricane Statement from NWS Newport/Morehead City

[ncbird]

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WTUS82 KMHX 171305
HLSMHX
AMZ130-135-150-152-154-156-158-
NCZ029-044>047-079>081-090>095-098-103-104-171600-

HURRICANE ISABEL LOCAL STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
900 AM EDT WED SEP 17 2003

...HURRICANE ISABEL CONTINUES MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST...

THIS STATEMENT RECOMMENDS ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY RESIDENTS OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: DARE...CARTERET...HYDE...PAMLICO...CRAVEN...
BEAUFORT...TYRRELL...WASHINGTON...ONSLOW...GREENE...LENOIR...DUPLIN...JONES...MARTIN...AND PITT COUNTIES.

...WARNINGS...
A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR CAPE FEAR TO THE NORTH CAROLINA CHICOTEAGUE VIRGINIA...INCLUDING THE ALBEMARLE AND PAMLICO SOUNDS. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

...STORM INFORMATION...
AT 8 AM THE CENTER OF HURRICANE ISABEL WAS LOCATED ABOUT 425 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CAPE HATTERAS. ISABEL WAS MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST NEAR 9 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS WERE NEAR 110 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS...MAKING ISABEL A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE.

THE CENTER OF ISABEL IS FORECAST TO MAKE LANDFALL AS A STRONG
CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE NEAR OCRACOKE INLET AROUND NOON ON
THURSDAY...THEN MOVE INLAND JUST WEST OF ALBEMARLE SOUND AND INTO EASTERN VIRGINIA THURSDAY NIGHT.

...WIND INFORMATION...
WINDS ALONG THE COAST ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN INCREASING LATE TONIGHT.
BY SUNRISE TOMORROW WINDS COULD BE AS HIGH AS 50 MPH ON THE
IMMEDIATE COAST. THE HIGHEST WINDS WILL BE NEAR THE CENTER OF THE ISABEL. THE CENTER IS EXPECTED TO CROSS THE COAST AROUND NOON WITH WINDS OF OVER 100 MPH.

...OVERWASH ON HIGHWAY 12...
SOME BEACH EROSION IS LIKELY TODAY ALONG THE OUTER BANKS. OCEAN OVERWASH IS LIKELY ON HIGHWAY 12 ON THE OUTER BANKS...ESPECIALLY AROUND HIGH TIDE WHICH WILL OCCUR SHORTLY AFTER NOON.

...PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
FOR HYDE COUNTY...THERE IS A MANDATORY EVACUATION FOR OCRACOKE.

FOR DARE COUNTY...THERE IS A MANDATORY EVACUATION IN EFFECT. THERE ARE NO RED CROSS SHELTERS OPENED IN DARE COUNTY. SHELTERS ARE OPENED IN BIENVENUE ELEMENTARY IN ROCKY MOUNT AND FIKE HIGH SCHOOL IN WILSON. DARE COUNTY SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

FOR CARTERET COUNTY...A MANDATORY EVACUATION IS IN EFFECT FOR PEOPLE ON BOGUE BANKS...PEOPLE IN LOW LYING AREAS...AND PEOPLE IN MOBILE HOMES. A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION IS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMAINDER OF CARTERET COUNTY. SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED IN CARTERET COUNTY THROUGH FRIDAY. WEST CARTERET HIGH SCHOOL AND NEWPORT MIDDLE SCHOOL WILL BE OPENED AS SHELTERS AT NOON TODAY.

FOR CRAVEN COUNTY...SCHOOLS WILL BE CLOSED AT NOON TODAY...ALL DAY THURSDAY...AND A TWO HOUR DELAY ON FRIDAY.

IN JONES COUNTY...THREE SHELTERS WILL OPEN AT 6 PM
TODAY...AT THE COMFORT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL...JONES COUNTY
CIVIC CENTER...AND THE MAYSVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

FOR ONSLOW COUNTY...A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION IS IN EFFECT. SIX RED CROSS MANAGED SHELTERS WILL BE OPENED ACROSS THE COUNTY AT 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON. SCHOOLS WILL CLOSE 2 HOURS EARLY TODAY...AND WILL REMAIN CLOSED ALL DAY ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO MAKE PREPARATIONS BEFORE ISABEL ARRIVES. PEOPLE ARE URGED TO RUSH TO COMPLETE NECESSARY PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS TODAY.

...STORM SURGE...
AS NORTHEAST WINDS INCREASE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...WATER LEVELS ALONG THE NEUSE AND PAMLICO RIVERS WILL BEGIN TO RISE. WATER LEVELS COULD RISE TO 8 TO 10 FEET ABOVE NORMAL...ESPECIALLY NEAR NEW BERN...WASHINGTON...EASTERN PAMLICO COUNTY...AND DOWNEAST CARTERET COUNTY ALONG THE NEUSE. STORM SURGES ON THE OUTER BANKS ARE EXPECTED
TO BE AROUND 6 TO 8 FEET ON THURSDAY. STORM SURGE IN ONSLOW COUNTY IS EXPECTED TO BE IN THE 2 TO 4 FOOT RANGE.

...RAINFALL AND RIVERS...
A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY IN AREAS WHERE HEAVY RAIN FALLS.

...MARINE INFORMATION...
VERY ROUGH SURF CONDITIONS ARE ALREADY OCCURRING. SEAS WERE NEAR 15 FEET AT DIAMOND SHOALS...AND NEAR 25 FEET FURTHER OFFSHORE. OCEAN SWELLS STRIKING THE BEACH ARE RESULTING IN DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS. PEOPLE ARE URGED TO STAY OUT OF THE WATER.

...ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...
CHECK ADVISORIES FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AND STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT FOR MORE INFORMATION. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEBPAGE AT

HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/MHX

THE NEXT HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND NOON.

$$

KRIEHN