Cape Hatteras?

[will]

Does anyone have any sort of info on what's going on out there? I haven't found even one mention to it and yet it's where the storm hit. Why? What's going on?

[JCT777]

Hey, will. Nice to see you here. I too am curious about what is going on in Cape Hatteras.

[HeatherAKC]

CNN just reported that the road was impassable, officals were accessing damage and perhaps the topography had been changed a bit. Noone is allowed to go there.

[JetMaxx]

Probably because there is a lot of storm surge damage...the area from Cape Hatteras SW to Ocracoke likely suffered major damage...

A 957 mb hurricane coming from the SE and passing just SW of Cape Hatteras is strong enough to cause an 8-10' storm surge in that area....add the fact it was near time of high tide, and your talking 10-13'. I expect to see damage similar to Dauphin Island, Alabama after hurricane Frederic.....homes swept away by the dozens, and possibly even a couple bridges damaged or destroyed.

I've already heard numerous reports of an inlet cut completely through the Outer Banks north of Avon by the storm surge.

[JtSmarts]

I hope if anyone stayed behind in Hatteras they are ok!

[NC George]

The inlet gets cut frequently after bad storms in this area, it's typically backed up sound water that busts through an area of low dunes. It is not usually a new stable inlet (it doesn't cut down far enough that water flows through at low tide, and can easily be filled with sand to close it up, which is always what has happened in the past. They did have to move Hwy 12 over about 20 feet away from the shore in this area about 10 years ago.

[gotoman38]

Very very bad news for Hatteras village... many buildings lost... new inlet isolating village in all ways
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=59963&ran=1583
From The Virginian-Pilot

[gotoman38]

Also... The News & Observer reports that this is a real inlet...
http://www.newsobserver.com/isabel/v-include_isabeltop/story/2880884p-2656223c.html

These people need real help.

[alicia-w]

The gaping divide severed underground phone and electrical lines to the village and cut the pipe carrying drinking water, sending it pouring into the ocean. A boat is the only way into Hatteras Village now.

Heckfire, that doesnt sound like any fun at all! Sure an glad they evacuated that area.

[gabrielle01]

CNN website quote:


"Police said the worst damage was likely on southern Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island, where sustained winds reached 105 mph, but accessibility to those areas remained tenuous Friday morning."

"The worst impact was down in North Carolina along the Outer Banks," Federal Emergency Management Director Michael Brown told CNN. "We've had 4,000 people or so who didn't evacuate, a lot of building collapses, urban search and rescue teams in there."

Virginian Pilot website also mentioned that six helicopters were sent to Cape Hatteras Island for "life saving measures" earlier today and Ocracoke Island sustained extensive damage and flooding. No other information available.

[JetMaxx]

That's what I'm hearing from a friend who monitors ham radio....major storm surge damage in the Ocracoke to Hatteras and north to Rodanthe....

The 105 mph wind report from the Ocracoke Civil Defense/ EMA was a sustained wind...the limit of their anemometer (pegged at 91 kts). Several anemometers failed at 100 mph including Harker's bridge and Hatteras Inlet). Storm chasers at Ocracoke and Hatteras reportedly measured wind gusts of 121 mph and 118 mph (and according to the recon profile -- the strongest winds likely crossed the Outer Banks BETWEEN Ocrocoke and Cape Hatteras. This was definitely a strong cat-2 hurricane --and IF the reported peak storm surge on Hatteras Island was indeed 11'...that meets the criteria for a major hurricane (cat-3...9-12').

I'm counting Isabel as a cat-3 landfall for North Carolina in my records, and will do so unless and until NHC lowers past cat-3 hurricanes Connie, Ione, and Donna to cat-2 landfalls on NC...because they were the same intensity as Isabel (perhaps even less).

[ColdFront77]

The center of Isabel according to my calculations passed about 40 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, proper.

[gabrielle01]

Latest article on Hatteras Village and damage reports from Virginian Pilot online:

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=59992&ran=127041

[AussieMark]

I'm counting Isabel as a cat-3 landfall for North Carolina in my records, and will do so unless and until NHC lowers past cat-3 hurricanes Connie, Ione, and Donna to cat-2 landfalls on NC...because they were the same intensity as Isabel (perhaps even less).

Do you class Hurricane's Carol & Edna of 1954 assault on New England as a Category 2.

[paradoxsixnine]

I didn't even know about this situation in Cape Hatteras. See how behind I get when I don't check the board for 24 hours?

[Stephanie]

Probably because there is a lot of storm surge damage...the area from Cape Hatteras SW to Ocracoke likely suffered major damage...

A 957 mb hurricane coming from the SE and passing just SW of Cape Hatteras is strong enough to cause an 8-10' storm surge in that area....add the fact it was near time of high tide, and your talking 10-13'. I expect to see damage similar to Dauphin Island, Alabama after hurricane Frederic.....homes swept away by the dozens, and possibly even a couple bridges damaged or destroyed.

I've already heard numerous reports of an inlet cut completely through the Outer Banks north of Avon by the storm surge.

I read that AND saw a picture of it in The Philadelphia Inquirer. They also mentioned that there were homes that were swept away as well!

[NC George]

The area N of the Cape (Avon, Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo) has no new inlets, but Hwy 12 is covered by as much as 4 feet of sand.

The new inlet is S of Buxton and the lighthouse, inbetween Frisco (N) and Hatteras Village (S.) Tom Ridge is reported as saying they will fill it ASAP.

[gabrielle01]

Here is latest article on Hatteras from Virginian Pilot online:

"On the Outer Banks, the Coast Guard was able to restore critical operations from its station on Hatteras Island with the arrival of generators.

Not only are search and rescue operations being coordinated from there, but local officials and law enforcement have set up shop there.

The Coast Guard has launched a ferry service to bring supplies to residents.

``We're even delivering mail,'' said Matthew Hobbie, a Coast Guard spokesman there. ``But the first objective is to get water and food to those people as soon as possible.''

An estimated 300 people are on the devastated island, most without any services.

``It's like a bomb went off,'' said Janice Spake who traveled by boat to the island to check on friends in Hatteras Village. She rode out the storm in Buxton.

``I will not do this again,'' Spake told The Associated Press. ``I don't feel safe and I don't know if I'll ever feel safe again.''

The Salvation Army, with an assist from the National Guard, had hoped to airlift mobile kitchens to Buxton to feed people. But the plan was scrapped when it was found the facilities are too heavy. Plans are now being made to bring them in by barge or ferry."