Newport/Morehead City NWS statement

[KeyLargoDave]

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

...HURRICANE ISABEL CONTINUES TO HEAD TOWARD EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA...

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 NORTH CAROLINA TO
CHICOTEAGUE VIRGINIA...INCLUDING THE ALBEMARLE AND PAMLICO SOUNDS. A
HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE
WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS IN
EFFECT FOR THE INLAND COUNTIES OF DUPLIN...GREENE...JONES...
LENOIR...MARTIN AND PITT.

...STORM INFORMATION...
AT 8 PM THE CENTER OF HURRICANE ISABEL WAS LOCATED ABOUT 280
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CAPE HATTERAS. ISABEL WAS MOVING NORTH
NORTHWEST NEAR 14 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS WERE NEAR 105 MPH
WITH HIGHER GUSTS...MAKING ISABEL A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE. A SLIGHT
INCREASE IN INTENSITY IS POSSIBLE PRIOR TO LANDFALL.

THE CENTER OF ISABEL IS FORECAST TO MAKE LANDFALL NEAR CAPE LOOKOUT
EARLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON...THEN MOVE INLAND JUST WEST OF ALBEMARLE
SOUND AND INTO EASTERN VIRGINIA THURSDAY NIGHT.

...WIND INFORMATION...
WINDS ACROSS THE AREA HAVE BEGUN TO INCREASE. BY SUNRISE TOMORROW
WINDS COULD BE AS HIGH AS 50 MPH ON THE IMMEDIATE COAST. THE
POTENTIAL FOR HURRICANE FORCE WINDS WILL BEGIN ALONG THE COAST
AROUND MID MORNING. THE HIGHEST WINDS WILL BE NEAR THE CENTER OF
ISABEL. THE CENTER IS EXPECTED TO CROSS THE COAST EARLY THURSDAY
AFTERNOON WITH SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR 110 MPH. STRONG WINDS WILL
SPREAD INLAND ACROSS EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA DURING THE MORNING HOURS
AND THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THEY WILL BEGIN TO DECREASE AROUND SUNSET.

...OVERWASH ON HIGHWAY 12...
OCEAN OVERWASH IS LIKELY ON HIGHWAY 12 ON THE OUTER BANKS TONIGHT...
ESPECIALLY AROUND HIGH TIDE WHICH WILL OCCUR AROUND 1 AM. MAJOR
OCEAN OVERWASH IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE OUTER BANKS AS HURRICANE
ISABEL MAKES LANDFALL NEAR THE TIME OF HIGH TIDE EARLY THURSDAY...
WHICH OCCURS AROUND 130 PM. BATTERING WAVES OF 10 TO 15 FEET ON TOP
OF THE 6 TO 8 FEET OF STORM SURGE WILL RESULT IN MAJOR OCEAN
OVERWASH AND BEACH EROSION.

...PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
ALL PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS SHOULD BE COMPLETED AT THIS TIME.

...SHELTERS AND OTHER INFORMATION...
CRAVEN COUNTY...FOUR SHELTERS ARE OPEN.
GREENE COUNTY...ONE SHELTER AT GREENE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IS OPEN.
OCRACOKE...FERRIES HAVE STOPPED RUNNING.
LENOIR COUNTY...TWO SHELTERS ARE OPEN...LENOIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND
A SPECIAL NEEDS CENTER AT THE DOWNEAST MEDICAL CENTER.
JONES COUNTY...THREE SHELTERS ARE OPEN.
ONSLOW COUNTY...SIX SHELTERS ARE OPEN. NORTH TOPSAIL BRIDGE CLOSED
TONIGHT WITH NO RETURNS.
PAMLICO COUNTY...ONE SHELTER IS OPEN.
PITT COUNTY...SIX SHELTERS ARE OPEN.
WASHINGTON COUNTY...SPECIAL NEEDS SHELTER IS OPEN.
WAYNE COUNTY...FIVE SHELTERS ARE OPEN.
CAMP LEJUENE...SEVEN SHELTERS ARE OPEN.

...STORM SURGE...
WATER LEVELS ALONG THE NEUSE AND PAMLICO RIVERS HAVE STARTED TO
RISE. MARIBEL...ALONG THE BAY RIVER IN PAMLICO COUNTY...IS ALREADY
REPORTING HIGH WATER CLOSING SOME ROADS. THE NEUSE RIVER COULD SEE
WATER LEVELS SIX FEET ABOVE NORMAL...WITH UP TO 10 FEET POSSIBLE IN
THE SOUTHERN TRIBUTARIES. ALONG THE PAMLICO RIVER...STORM SURGES
COULD REACH AS HIGH AS FOUR TO FIVE FEET ABOVE NORMAL. STORM SURGES
ON THE OUTER BANKS ARE EXPECTED TO BE AROUND 6 TO 8 FEET ON
THURSDAY. STORM SURGE IN ONSLOW COUNTY...AND IN CARTERET COUNTY WEST
OF CAPE LOOKOUT IS EXPECTED TO BE IN THE 2 TO 4 FOOT RANGE. STORM
SURGES ON THE ALBEMARLE SOUND ARE EXPECTED TO 3 TO 5 FEET ALONG THE
SOUTHERN SHORE OF THE SOUND FROM TYRRELL COUNTY EASTWARD. STORM
SURGES OVER THE WESTERN ALBEMARLE SOUND ARE EXPECTED TO REACH 5 TO 7
FEET...WITH TIDAL FLOODING EXPECTED IN LOWER REACHES OF THE ROANOKE
RIVER.

...RAINFALL AND RIVERS...
A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING
ALONG AND EAST OF THE TRACK OF THE CENTER OF ISABEL AND IN THE
HEAVIER RAIN BANDS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 7 INCHES ARE EXPECTED
WEST OF THE TRACK OF ISABEL. THIS WILL RESULT IN FLOODING OF LOW
LYING AREAS. FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY IN AREAS WHERE HEAVY RAIN
FALLS IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

...MARINE INFORMATION...
VERY ROUGH SURF CONDITIONS ARE ALREADY OCCURRING. SEAS WERE NEAR 19
FEET AT DIAMOND SHOALS...AND NEAR 31 FEET FURTHER OFFSHORE.
OCEAN SWELLS STRIKING THE BEACH ARE RESULTING IN DANGEROUS RIP
CURRENTS. PEOPLE ARE URGED TO STAY OUT OF THE WATER.

...TORNADO INFORMATION...
THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT RISK OF TORNADOES ACROSS EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA THROUGH THURSDAY.

...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 MIDNIGHT.