Dare County has received more than $5 million to elevate 31 flood-prone homes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Dare County Grants and Waterways office announced Monday that the county has received the FEMA hazard mitigation assistance grant awarded in December 2023 because of the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Dorian, which was declared a federal disaster in 2019. 

The 31 homes that will be elevated this year were selected from applications submitted in 2019 by homeowners in Kitty Hawk, Manteo, Wanchese, Stumpy Point, Manns Harbor, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras. 

Elevations will begin once the project has been bid out by the state and a contractor has been selected. The project is expected to begin in late this year and take a year to complete. The elevation of each home is expected to take between 60 and 90 days to complete.

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides funding to local and state governments so they can develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in a manner that reduces future disaster losses within their communities. This funding, which only becomes available after a presidentially declared disaster occurs, allows structures to be elevated above the known flood level, preventing or reducing the risk of future flood losses.  

Over the past 25 years, Dare County has completed the elevation of nearly 100 homes with FEMA assistance, including 27 residences that were elevated in 2023 with funding from a hazard mitigation assistance grant of $6 million awarded in August 2021 as a result of damage caused by Hurricane Florence, declared a federal disaster in 2018.   

“In addition to reducing flood insurance claims and keeping insurance rates down, elevating homes located in areas prone to flooding also enhances the resilience of these residences, protecting the homeowners and their belongings from potential future losses,” officials said.  

Although the homes that will be elevated in 2024 using this particular FEMA hazard mitigation assistance grant have already been selected from applications that were submitted following Hurricane Dorian in 2019, homeowners whose properties are located in flood-prone areas are encouraged to watch for grant opportunities that may become available following any future federally declared disasters.

For more information, please contact Dare County Grants and Waterways Administrator Barton Grover at 252-475-5628 or Barton.Grover@DareNC.gov.

Watch a short video released in May 2023 about elevating homes in Dare County through FEMA’s hazard mitigation assistance grant funding.

OCRACOKE VILLAGE — As islanders and National Park Service personnel have been busy in recent weeks preparing to celebrate Thursday the 200^th anniversary of the Ocracoke Lighthouse, the beacon stands as a stoic symbol of the very island itself: sturdy, enduring and vulnerable.

For those not already on the island, the Ocracoke Light Station 200^th anniversary event set for 1-2 p.m. Thursday will be livestreamed on Facebook by Outer Banks Forever, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s official philanthropic partner.

The nation’s second oldest continually operated lighthouse, a cherished centerpiece of the village, was damaged when an astounding 7-foot surge of water from the Pamlico Sound was blasted ashore by Hurricane Dorian Sept. 6, 2019. Villagers called it the worst flooding in memory, 2 feet higher than ever before.

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After two years of planning by Cape Hatteras National Seashore, including community meetings, discussions and review, the Ocracoke Light Station Preservation Project has been approved and funded. A contractor to work on the chosen alternative, which involves mostly elevation of the keepers’ quarters and repair of the lighthouse, is expected to be selected later this year.

Congress appropriated $2 million to the National Park Service in September to renovate and repair the Ocracoke Light Station.

“Most everybody, like 98%, thinks they’re doing what the community wants them to do, as a whole,” John Simpson, an 11^th generation Ocracoker, told Coastal Review.

The station’s 75-foot-tall Ocracoke Lighthouse, oil house, keepers’ quarters and ancillary buildings were completed in 1823.

An early option to relocate the lighthouse station — an idea Simpson said was more rumor than an actual consideration — was immediately tossed.

“I don’t think, personally, that was ever brought to a meaningful discussion,” he said. “You talk about a rebellion — the lighthouse means a lot to the folks that live there.”

When Simpson was in high school, his father retired from the Coast Guard and his family moved into the house his mother had inherited that was situated “due north along the creek on the Silver Lake side.”

Nearly every night, unless it was foggy, the beam of the lighthouse shined into his window, he recalled fondly.

“It was like a nightlight,” he said.

Many people on the island have their own personal connections to the lighthouse.

For Simpson, he is proud that his great-grandfather Joseph M. Burrus, known as “Cap’n Joe,” served there as a light keeper from 1929 to 1946. A Hatteras native, he decided to build a house on Ocracoke Island after retiring from 45 years in the U.S. Lifesaving Service. For a while when his father was young, Simpson said that his father and his family had lived in the keepers’ quarters with Cap’n Joe.

Simpson recalled a story his father had told him about the Great Atlantic Hurricane in September 1944, which until Dorian, he said, was the “benchmark storm for Ocracoke.”

“My dad said, ‘Son, I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,’” he recounted. “Across the street was a wooden skiff with a pig and three adults in it. The water picked up that wooden boat, brought it over the (lighthouse station) fence, put it in the yard and left them there high and dry.”

Dorian’s tide was 11 inches higher than that devastating 1944 storm.

Along with nearly every vehicle and building in the village, the entire light station was flooded. The grounds and walkways were completely submerged, and the base of the lighthouse, the double keepers’ quarters and five outbuildings were inundated with as much as 24 inches of brackish water.

“There was 18 inches of floodwater in the old keepers’ quarters,” Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent Dave Hallac said in March 2021, months after Hurricane Dorian. “The shed got lifted up and floated off from the foundation.”

But the Ocracoke Light Station, which was added in 1977 to the National Register of Historic Places, is barely above sea level and situated next to a marsh. Its water table is so high that it is technically considered a wetland. Unless there is a dry spell, the station’s lawn is mushy and often impossible to walk on without getting wet feet.

“I’ve only been superintendent for six years and it’s flooded or practically flooded three times,” Hallac added.

With Dorian, the water roared through the station at a height of 6.7 feet above mean sea level.

“It came up super fast and it went down super fast,” the superintendent said while showing the damage at the site in February 2022. “But the damage was done.”

The power and water pedestals were all destroyed, requiring replacements of everything. The interior of the structure had to be cleaned of mold and dried out. Floorboards had to be removed. The wallboard had to be ripped out. Heating and air conditioning units were flooded; the new ones were installed higher. Thirteen park service vehicles were flooded.

“Nothing escaped the flood from Dorian,” Hallac said.

In addition to the chosen alternative from the environmental assessment approved in August, the park service had proposed simply following the existing management plan to repair storm damage, or removing the double keepers’ quarters and replacing it with a ghost structure that mimicked the existing building.

Regardless of the alternative chosen, the shotcrete on the lighthouse’s exterior bricks was slated to be replaced with a breathable coating; damaged masonry would be replaced; existing windows would be repaired or replaced with historically appropriate windows; leaks at the top of the lantern would be fixed; the interior would be repainted or recoated; and the original stone foundation would be exposed.

As Hallac noted during public presentations and discussions, the situation with ongoing and increasing sea level rise will increase flood risks on the island, including at the light station. 

Recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that the mid-range rate of sea level rise in Ocracoke is 1.14 feet in 2030, 1.8 feet in 2040 and 2.5 feet in 2050.

“This is not storms, this is not king tides, this is just everyday tides,” Hallac said.

In discussions about sea level rise, he added, people often focus on what is going to happen in the future. “And I say, ‘No — it’s happening now.’”

Simpson said he and most other folks on the island understand that the environment is changing, but preserving what they can is important. “Still, Ocracokers are used to doing the best they can with what they’ve got,” he said.

Going back centuries, adaptation is built into the mindset of islanders.

As he sees it, the Ocracoke Lighthouse embodies the heritage and deep roots of the island community. With the stout white tower still keeping watch over the village after two centuries of wars and storms while blinking its welcome to boats coming into Silver Lake Harbor, islanders have to believe that they — and the lighthouse — will continue to survive.

“You hope and pray you never get that one shot that devastates everything,” Simpson said. “This is our little cubicle of life. We live and die by the weather conditions.”

The state is looking for input from the public on how to spend recovery and mitigation funds in areas of the state impacted by hurricanes Matthew and Florence.

The state Office of Recovery and Resiliency, or NCORR, will be accepting public comment until Jan. 7 on proposed amendments to three action plans for spending U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery and Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation.

The proposed amendments would include modifications to the Hurricane Matthew, Hurricane Florence and Mitigation action plans previously approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, and aim to simplify programs and spending across all three grants provided by HUD.

The total disaster recovery and mitigation grant funds total more than $947 million in federal  funding for homeowner recovery, affordable housing, property buyout, and other programs.

All three action plans and the draft amendments are available for review online. Public comments are strongly encouraged to be submitted by email to publiccomments@rebuild.nc.gov. Those wishing to submit comments may also do so by U.S. Postal Service to Attn: NCORR Public Comments, P.O. Box 110465, Durham, N.C. 27709.

The Cooper administration established NCORR following the September 2018 Hurricane Florence to streamline disaster recovery programs statewide and help communities rebuild smarter and stronger. So far, the state has invested more than $3.6 billion in state and federal funding to help the state recover from damage caused by hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Dorian and Isaias.

Learn more about NCORR’s programs at https://www.rebuild.nc.gov/.

State and Hyde County officials will be on Ocracoke Island Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to document damage from hurricanes Florence and Dorian.

The state Department of Safety’s Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Branch personnel will assist the county gather the required documentation for Federal Emergency Management Agency to be able to evaluate and issue award decisions on damaged homes.

State personnel will help by collecting the FEMA-required photos and remaining documents for the more than 200 Ocracoke homeowners who have applied for FEMA funding to elevate their home and bring it back into code compliance.

State staff will be in marked vehicles and NC Emergency Management-logoed shirts. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the agents will not knock on doors, but will take front, back, left and right view exterior photos of the homes as required to meet FEMA’s funding regulations.

This effort is to round out the work already submitted by Hyde County staff in the aftermath of Florence and Dorian, according to officials.

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, and Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program all include property elevations as an eligible project type. Communities, not individual survivors, are eligible for mitigation grants. To qualify, homeowners must meet all eligibility criteria and then apply through their local community, which applies to the state of North Carolina.

Updated to include statewide awards

The Dare County Board of Commissioners approved during its regular meeting last week a $1 million grant from the state to help assuage the financial strain caused by last year’s Hurricane Dorian.

Like many counties and local and tribal governments, Dare County has been facing budget impacts caused by hurricane damage and applied for the  state-funded grant through the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, or NCORR, program, State Grants for Financially Distressed Local and Tribal Governments.

Governments can apply for grants of up to $1 million as short-term assistance to pay for everyday operating expenses or provide additional support for disaster recovery. Information on the grant application process is on NCORR’s ReBuild.NC.gov website.

“Our communities are committed to rebuilding smarter and stronger and these funds will help foster new partnerships and make North Carolina more resilient against future storms,” said Gov. Roy Cooper in a release.

Communities are also able to apply for zero-interest loans through NCORR, though the 2020 loan application period has closed. Another application period will be announced in the coming months for the revolving loans of up to $2 million. These loans are to help with disaster-related expenses while local governments wait for reimbursement from federal disaster response, recovery and resiliency programs such as those from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If approved, the loan principal must be repaid upon receiving federal reimbursements.

Clawson said that he identified what items the county needed that met the criteria outlined in the application.

“One of them was a vehicle for emergency management, and another one was if you had Hurricane Dorian costs that had not been reimbursed by FEMA or the state, and we have both of those. And then the rest, the grant application allowed you to use non-hurricane related — just straight up operating expenditures — you can use debt service, you can do payroll, I picked payroll,” he said.

The county, which applied for the grant Sept. 9, will use $55,000 for an emergency management vehicle that has been requested but not included in the FY2021 budget, $166,456 for debris costs from Hurricane Dorian that was ineligible for reimbursement, per FEMA, and $778,544 for economic relief to general fund, to be used for general payroll obligations, according to the county.

County commissioners approved a budget amendment for the grant and the memorandum of agreement during the meeting.

More than 40 local and tribal governments have been awarded about $50 million in grants and loans to help with operating costs and recovery expenses since the NCORR program was launched last year.

“Hurricanes damage not only individual homes, but also buildings and infrastructure that are critical for community stability and welfare,” said NCORR Chief Operating Officer Laura Hogshead in a statement. “Our office is committed to building local government partnerships that will support long-term disaster recovery throughout the state.”

Carteret County also received $1 million in grant money earlier this month from NCORR because of the impact recent major storms had on the budget.

“As a result of the hurricanes’ negative economic impact on the County’s operating budget, the award is a pivotal resource for our County. FEMA reimburses local government for direct cost incurred from disasters. It does not reimburse local governments for lost revenues, and these revenues pay operating expenses and debt service obligations.” said Dee Meshaw, Carteret County assistant manager, in a statement from the county. “By alleviating the need to use general fund money to pay for these debts, it will allow the County to be more resilient against future storms and continue to financially support future projects and improvements for our community.”

Pollocksville is using the $500,000 grant awarded in 2019 funds to reduce debt service, retain the services of a full-time employee to help with disaster mitigation and resiliency, and to cover additional accounting expenses and financial services, according to NCORR.

“The grant has been a financial lifesaver for our town,” said Mayor James V. Bender Jr.

In late 2018, Cooper established NCORR in the Department of Public Safety after the state experienced two devastating hurricanes in as many years.

The North Carolina General Assembly established the state recovery grants for county governments, incorporated municipalities and tribal governments to provide assistance under the Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Dorian Presidential Disaster declarations, according to the state.

NCORR announced in January that more funding was available through the grant and loan program established in 2019.

Cooper signed legislation Nov. 18, 2019, directing $10 million for NCORR to disperse as zero-interest loans that governments can use for recovery-related expenses while waiting for reimbursement from various federal programs. Additionally, $5 million was set aside for local government grants to help communities impacted by Hurricane Dorian. Those funds supplement $9 million in grant and loan funds for local governments that Cooper signed into law on September 2019.

The agency during the first round of funding in 2019 awarded more than $22.4 million in grants and loans to 22 local governments struggling financially because of costs related to Hurricane Florence.

The grants can be used to cover operating budget expenses not related to a disaster, such as payroll and payments to vendors for goods and services not related to disaster response and recovery, where nonpayment would result in a negative financial outcome. The grants can also be used for disaster response and recovery expenses denied for federal reimbursement, disaster-related repairs to facilities and infrastructure denied for federal reimbursement and debt service payments.

The following are the NCORR grants and loans to date for Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, counties and towns and reason for funding:

Grants 2019

• Cape Carteret: $500,000 for administrative expenditures such as payroll and debt service payments due to disaster recovery.
• River Bend: $300,000 for inspection specialist and a public works technician, vehicle used for the inspections and enforcement of building ordinances.
• Atlantic Beach: $500,000 for debt service payments, part-time building inspector.
• Emerald Isle: $370,000 for debt service payments.
• Navassa: $375,000 for stabilization of water and sewer fund.
• North Topsail Beach: $250,000 for debt service payment to USDA.

Loans 2019

• River Bend: $1 million for FEMA projects for debris removal, repairs to building, emergency response.
• Beaufort: $1 million for FEMA projects for debris removal, emergency response, cemetery clean up, additional payroll.
• Boiling Spring Lakes: $2 million for FEMA infrastructure projects.
• Jones County $2 million for FEMA Projects for debris removal, emergency response, utilities repair, inmate housing.
• Pamlico County: $2 million for FEMA projects for debris removal.
• Emerald Isle: $2 million for FEMA projects for debris removal.

Hurricane Florence Grants

• Belhaven: $97,500 for part-time building inspector.
• Oriental: $86,593 for Public Works position for three years, vehicle for disaster recovery support.
• Vandemere: $80,167 for bobcat excavator.
• Navassa: $500,000 for payroll obligation, debt services obligations, vendor payments.
• New Bern: $328,500 for resiliency consultant, truck.
• Morehead City Fire-EMS: $174,000 for equipment for water search rescue team.
• River Bend: $363,000 for debt services, payroll obligations.

Hurricane Dorian Grants 2020

• Hyde County: $500,000 for administrative functions to assist with disaster recovery, affordable housing study and $2,214,000 for budget shortfalls, individual assistance costs, housing recovering contractors.
• Dare County: $1 million for disaster expenses denied by FEMA, general payroll obligations, emergency operations vehicle.
• Carteret County $1 million for debt service obligations.

Loans 2020

• Topsail Beach: $2 million for FEMA beach nourishment fund project.
• Hyde County: $2 million for FEMA debris removal from Hurricane Dorian.
• Pollocksville: $1.66 million for FEMA project for elevation of main sewer pumping station and also a project to relocate town hall/train station.

The following are the loans and grants awarded statewide as part of the program:

Grants 2019

• Fair Bluff: $500,000 for administrative positions to assist with disaster recovery for three years.
• Pollocksville: $500,000 for debt service payments, engineering support .
• Robbins: $500,000 for debt service payments, computer equipment, equipment for waste water treatment plant.
• Boardman: $200,000 for administrative expenses such as payroll, utilities, construction expenses for town hall.
• Jones County: $1 million for debt service payments, emergency management position to assist with disaster recovery.
• Maysville: $450,000 for debt service payments, general payroll , radio read meters.
• Lumberton: $500,000 for debt service payment for water and sewer fund.
• Bladenboro: $500,000 for administrative expenses such as payroll and debt service payments.
• Trenton: $405,000 for sewer construction, repairs to city buildings.
• Elizabethtown: $500,000 for debt service payments, code enforcement officer, economic development manager, consultant.
• Chadbourn: $375,000 for general payroll obligations, water sewer repairs, assistant town manager, backhoe.
• Tabor City: $25,000 for position to Support Disaster Recovery Coordination.

Loans 2019

• Fair Bluff: $700,000 Debt Services and FEMA HMGP obligations for the town.
• Boardman: $130,000 FEMA HMGP Project obligations.
• Jones County: $2 million for FEMA projects for debris removal, emergency response, utilities repair, inmate housing expenses.
• Lumberton: $2 million for FEMA projects for debris removal.
• Robbins: 1,600,000 for various FEMA projects to include wastewater treatment repair, emergency response, and pump station repair.

Grants Florence 2020

• Marion: $245,773 for funds for administrative functions to assist with disaster recovery, affordable housing study.
• Tabor City: $ 475,000 for position to support disaster recovery coordination.
• Cerro Gordo: $358,085 for administrative expenses such as payroll, bonds, utilities water and sewer fund expenses.
• Jones County: $1 million for repairs to the water pump station that was denied by FEMA.
• Town of Fair Bluff: $500,000 for drainage equipment.
• Hoke County: $235,215 for equipment for water search rescue team.
• Rose Hill: $188,000.00 for debt services, payroll obligations.
• Wallace: $500,000 for debris removal, debris management consultant, and community development officer.
• Wilson County: $406,000 for debt services.
• Red Springs: $500,000 for consulting services, debt service obligations, payroll obligation.
• Pembroke: $280,050 for disaster recovery coordinator.
• Clarkton $96,000 for excavator.
• Maysville: $500,000 for payroll obligation, debt services obligation.
• White Lake: $155,000 for position to support disaster recovery coordination.

Loans 2020

• Princeville: $2 million for various FEMA projects to include town hall repairs, senior center construction and repair costs.
• Lumbee Tribe of NC: $2 million for construction and engineering costs for FEMA projects.
• Marion: $450,120 for FEMA project for Lincoln Avenue bridge reconstruction.
• Elizabethtown: $2 Million For FEMA Project for repair of local cemetery.
• Red Springs: $1,024,608 for FEMA projects for debris removal, emergency protective measure, repairs to buildings.
• Jones County: $2 million for FEMA project for buyout.

This weekend marks the anniversary  of Hurricane Dorian’s landfall on the North Carolina coast, which resulted in devastating flooding on Ocracoke Island. Guest columnist Peter Vankevich, copublisher along with Connie Leinbach of the Ocracoke Observer, has collaborated with Coastal Review Online in publishing this look at how the storm has changed life for island residents.

OCRACOKE ISLAND — To modify a cliché, there is truth when saying “Ocracoke has weathered the storm … again.” Hurricane Dorian, the most recent hurricane to hit the island, could modify it with “barely.”

Ocracoke’s community has withstood major hurricanes over the centuries, sometimes in sensational fashion.

In early September 1913, a hurricane struck eastern North Carolina. A national news dispatch on Sept. 4 on that storm reported that all 500 residents on Ocracoke had perished. The story was based on someone seeing 30-foot waves in the Pamlico Sound.

To the credit of the press back then, the news report was quickly walked back and, in fact, not a single fatality occurred on the island. Nevertheless, that unnamed hurricane caused substantial damage throughout the eastern Carolinas. Erik Heden, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Morehead City, pointed out that the 1913 storm was classified as a Category 1 event, which proves that category numbers are not a sole reliable indicator as to what a major storm can do in causing devastation.

“The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale measures wind speed only,” said Heden. “It doesn’t factor in storm surge and rainfall, which can have devastating impacts as we saw with Dorian.”

Ocracoke has withstood many powerful hurricanes, with names such as Gloria, Isabel, Alex and Matthew since 1953, the year the National Hurricane Center began using a preselected list of women’s names for Atlantic Basin storms. In 1979 alternating men’s and women’s names for storms began. Prior to that, there were other destructive storms, notably the Independence Hurricane of 1775, the San Cirioca Storm in 1899, the Hurricane of 1933 and the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944.

The many details of the impact of Dorian which closed the island to visitors until Dec. 2, are too numerous for this story but many more are available from the Ocracoke Observer.

Here are some of the  highlights:

• Dorian had a profoundly harmful impact on Ocracoke, causing a deep trauma — physical, mental and economic.
• By the time it made landfall on Hatteras Island, just above Ocracoke, on the morning of Sept. 6, it was far from being the most powerful, “just” another Category 1, with peak winds of about 90 mph.
• Dorian arrived well credentialed. It formed Aug. 24, 2019, and quickly rose to an extremely powerful and devastating Category 5 hurricane with peak winds at 185 mph. It is the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas and is regarded as the worst natural disaster in the country’s history. The United States waited nervously as it headed west. Dorian skirted the Atlantic Coast of Florida then moved northward, causing relatively minor damage until reaching Ocracoke.
• Dorian struck at night on Sept. 5, and on Sept. 6, around 7:30 a.m., a 7.4-foot storm surge quickly tore through the village. Amazingly, there was no loss of life from this storm.

“There is significant concern about hundreds of people trapped on Ocracoke  Island,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a press conference that day. “There are rescue teams ready as soon as they can get in.”

Cooper visited the island the following day to get a first-hand look.

Even before the storm had departed, several islanders took to their skiffs and piloted through the village making many heroic rescues of folks unable to get out of their homes.

It quickly became obvious that the assistance needed would be substantial and long. For various times, the only grocery store, the bank and health center were closed, and the electric power was down and an unprecedented warning went out that lasted for a few days to boil tap water before drinking or cooking with it.

Dorian’s high waves breached N.C. 12 at the north end, cutting off access to the Hatteras Inlet ferry terminal.

Ocracoke School flooded and classes were canceled. School officials worked feverishly to find alternative locations, ultimately using North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, or NCCAT, facility, Ocracoke Child Care, and the upper floors of the school’s elementary section. But it would take a month before students could return to class. These locations that would last until COVID-19 on March 14 caused a shutdown for all state school buildings.

As the floodwaters ebbed, officials mobilized the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department as a command center. Many islanders showed up to volunteer and were quickly put to work, others arrived requesting assistance, noting their homes were destroyed or trees had fallen onto their houses.

The Ocracoke Control Group, Office of the County Manager, and Hyde County Emergency Management met to develop and implement a plan to deal with the disaster.

Ocracoke was not abandoned. In fact, it seemed like the whole state mobilized to provide assistance and donate goods. A host of state and federal partners soon arrived, including the National Park Service, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and its Ferry Division, the governor’s office, state Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services set up a field hospital outside the health center, which was badly damaged and would take a few months to reopen.

Residents of Carteret County and mainland Hyde County filled their boats and delivered much-needed emergency supplies. Donated food, cleaning products and other supplies poured in via the ferries and filled the bays of the fire department with the firetrucks parked across the street.

The village quickly took on the appearance of a disaster zone with debris from flooded houses, many of which would be demolished, and downed trees lined the streets. Dozens of totaled vehicles were placed along the road, especially north of Ocracoke.

The National Park Service permitted the material to be taken to the parking lot of what is locally known as Lifeguard Beach and vegetation at a site near the campground. Both locations were massive, causing locals to declare the Lifeguard Beach parking lot as the highest point in Hyde County.

Ocracoke’s county commissioner, Tom Pahl, the keynote speaker at the Outer Banks Community Foundation’s annual meeting and luncheon on Feb. 20, noted that more than a third of the buildings on Ocracoke were severely damaged; 88 of 105 businesses sustained significant damage; hundreds of cars and trucks were totaled and 3 miles of road at the island’s north end destroyed, taking several weeks to repair.

Many individuals and organizations volunteered to help, including the American Red Cross and the faith-based Salvation Army, Samaritans Purse, North Carolina Baptists on Mission, and the United Methodists Committee on Relief (UMCOR). These groups went to peoples’ homes and removed downed trees, ripped out water-soaked insulation and performed many other tasks.

One of many heroes is the Outer Banks Community Foundation. It set up the Ocracoke Disaster Relief Fund and raised more than $1.2 million in contributions from about 6,000 donors. Organizations and individuals from all over the region and the country also sent contributions to the school and two churches.

Throughout the fall, there were many fundraisers, including the performing artists of the Ocrafolk Festival at the historic Carolina Theatre in Durham, and a lemonade stand set up by a 6-year-old near the North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City, that got onto social media and raised nearly $9,000 for the school.

The governor returned Sept. 23 with several of his secretaries and top staff and they spent the day listening to the islanders and touring the village.

To pile on, a mid-November storm pummeled the Outer Banks with two days of sustained winds of more than 30 mph and gusts much higher that again wreaked havoc on N.C. 12 and caused the ferry system to suspend operations, resulting in a delay in reopening the island, which finally happened Dec. 2.

As the islanders struggled to return to homes and reopen their businesses, people started looking forward.

Hurricane Dorian caught the attention of Whitney Knollenberg, assistant professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. She focuses her research on the role of policy and planning and sustainable tourism development. She had previously done a study on Ocracoke’s tourism economy that was funded through North Carolina Sea Grant as part of their community collaboration research grants program.

“Reading the news about Ocracoke, I realized that Dorian would have a long-term impact on the island’s economy and a follow-up study was needed,” she said. “It (Dorian) really stood out to me as an example of an event that is going to continue to happen in places like Ocracoke, which are reliant upon tourism, and we are going to have to figure out how to address these types of changes.”

Knollenberg and three colleagues have received a grant from the National Science Foundation to identify the available information and resources for community leaders to make policy and planning decisions. The scope of her study has been expanded to include the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following are observations about Dorian from longtime Ocracoke residents who were here when it struck and have had experience with previous hurricanes, as recorded and transcribed by Peter Vankevich in early July.

Trudy  Austin

My name is Trudy Austin, a 10^th generation on Ocracoke here, graduate of the class of 1982. Growing up here, you heard the stories of all the storms on Ocracoke. And it seemed like you lived through them. I heard my grandparents and my mother especially talk about the ’44 storm.

Every hurricane season, my mom, like clockwork, would reflect on that day.

“That ’44, you know, happened during the daylight hour,” she would say. The day before it arrived, the Coast Guard taped up a warning notice right on the live oak tree there. Later, it was a beautiful starry night. And the next day, just so quick like Dorian, it hit. Someone came with a skiff and put her in it to save her. So, we grew up with all those stories, imagining that this would probably be the worst thing that we would ever experience in our lifetime or see once in a lifetime.

I’ve only left the one time in 1984 with Gloria that did a lot of devastation, that was the first time since 1963 that a little bit of water came in the back door.

Growing up, my sister, Tammy Tolson, and I always had hurricane shifts. This time with Dorian, Tammy was up from 2 a.m. until she come knocking on the room said, “I think the eye is going over. I’m gonna grab some sleep.” And I said, “Okay, I’ll just set up and watch the backside of the eye just to make sure.”

Then the surge arrived.

I actually had a chance to take three little videos on my phone from my front door facing the lighthouse and the back door, about 60 seconds apart. Then the water was up to my waist in the utility room on the third video. It was that quick.

It was the first time we had rising water in the house and because it is low, we made the decision to go to our rental property, Sabra’s Cottage, right behind us which is elevated 7 feet. We waded up to our necks and made it, soaked but safe.

And that’s when the boats were going by to rescue folks. It was very similar to how my mom described the ’44, but this water was definitely a lot higher than even what she’s always talked about.

Dorian’s impact? For hurricanes, my mom and dad were always prepared days in advance, they took each one 100%. Because going through the ’44, it changed their lives and their way of thinking, how to prepare for them. And Dorian has totally changed mine and talking with island people, they are now looking at hurricane season as if it is looming over you.

A lot of people are thinking not if we are going to get another, but it’s more like when we get one as bad as Dorian.

Dorian is my ’44. Yes, it is. Even though I think we got more to come. I’m hoping that, yeah, this is the ’44 for us to ever see.

Alton Balance

Okay, my name is Alton Ballance. My mother’s and father’s ancestors on Ocracoke stretch back to the 1700s. I graduated from high school here in 1974. I studied at UNC Asheville for two years and then at UNC Chapel Hill, getting a degree in English education.

Following that, after some time working on my book, “Ocracokers,” I taught in Hillsborough for two years. I then came back to Ocracoke School and taught for 20 years, including being assistant principal. In 2003, I joined the Ocracoke campus staff of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) whose mission is to advance teaching as an art and profession. I retired in 2017.

I’m also owner of the Crews Inn on Back Road.

I became a county commissioner in 1984. At that time, we had not had any hurricanes of any significance for several years, just a few little brushes. So, there had not really been any significant planning or preparation for hurricanes. But Hurricane Gloria that year got everybody’s attention and was, back then, the most destructive storm of my lifetime. The forecast was so ominous that all but about 100 people left the island.

With no hurricane plan, it was basically go to Dare County and evacuate with them.

So, one of the first things that I did following Gloria was to create a hurricane evacuation plan and a control group that included the chief ranger for the National Park Service, the deputy sheriff, people from the Coast Guard and N.C. Ferry Division supervisors, and others that had to deal with evacuation, reentry and things like that. And we became a very tight group and we would meet in my remaining eight years as a county commissioner and deal with other hurricane threats.

But nothing, of course, had we faced back then like we have in the last couple of years. Hurricane Matthew (2016) put maybe an inch of water in my old house in the heart of the village. It skimmed the floors and I was able to open the doors and dry it out with no damage to the floor anything else.

Hurricane Dorian was an entirely different benchmark. And we haven’t seen anything like that since the hurricane of 1944. It was a game changer in the sense of a tremendous destruction in terms of the flooding that took place. It allowed people to see what a storm of this magnitude could do to structures that were not elevated. It also compromised our transportation system with Highway 12 being closed and the Ferry Division at Cedar Island and Swan Quarter not being able to provide enough of a schedule to meet the demands of support vehicles, supplies, and just residence traveling in their normal course.

Dorian launched me into a very intense rebuilding of my two places. I had to rebuild not only stronger but also smarter. For example, all my receptacles are now 40 inches above the floor and there is no wiring underneath the house.

I do believe there is climate change; there is certainly global warming. And the one thing that opened my eyes the most of that was when I was doing an NCCAT seminar on sea level rise. We had one of the world’s foremost experts on glaciers, Bruce Molnia, come and talk to us. He had been an early student of Orrin Pilkey at Duke. That day that he showed us a 1960s photo of this glacier in Alaska, then photos of it from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000 and 2010. And he asked, “what happened?” Everybody said the glacier is gone. And then the next question was, “where did it go?” It melted. It went into the sea.

So, you know, the scientists like him who have devoted their lives to studying this on the ground, measuring and looking at the science of gathering the data, studying the weather trends and temperatures. They see it’s not really to be disputed that things have changed. Do you have heat waves and then cold waves? Of course, but overall, there’s that pattern that affects the dynamics of hurricanes. Hurricanes like warm water. They like heat. They’re drawn to it. So, there is the potential that we’re going to have increased hurricane activity.

I think Dorian forever changed our view of the power and potential of hurricanes. And here we are at another season. And I think some people are certainly much better prepared. Everybody is nervous, you know at what it might do, not just to individual homes and businesses and transportation infrastructure, but also to the economy, and how Ocracoke can sustain itself.

Philip Howard

Philip Howard’s Ocracoke heritage goes back to the 18^th century.  He is one of the island’s preeminent historians and publishes the online Island Journal.

My father and I built the Village Craftsmen on historic Howard Street in 1973 a few inches higher than high tide in the 1944 hurricane (the highest tide in living memory at that time). We have been documenting storm tides at there since Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

When Hurricane Matthew came ashore in 2016, it brought the highest tide we had ever experienced up to that time, 28½ inches above the ground. However, tide water did not enter Village Craftsmen.

Hurricane Dorian produced a storm surge of about 7 feet. The tide was at least 1 foot higher than the surge from the ’44 storm. It was 56 inches above ground level, and 27½ inches higher than Matthew, and 10½ inches of tide water flooded Village Craftsmen.

For years, islanders thought any first floor above about 4 feet above ground was safe from tidal flooding. Of course, we’ve learned that is not the case. The question now is, “Was Dorian a once-in-a-lifetime event, or is it the new normal?”

Since Hurricane Dorian, which damaged dozens of buildings (at least 50 have been demolished as I write), many homes and businesses have been elevated, and many more are scheduled for elevation. Flood insurance, often neglected as an unnecessary expense, is now embraced by nearly everyone on the island.

In many cases, recovery from Hurricane Dorian has required replacing floors, walls, electric outlets, household appliances, and furniture. Complete kitchens and bathrooms have been rebuilt, as well as entire homes. Hundreds of automobiles, as well as lawnmowers and other tools, were flooded beyond repair. In addition, many trees were uprooted and building pilings compromised.

Many islanders’ homes were so damaged that they were (and some still are) displaced because of the damage. In addition, Ocracoke’s transportation system (roads, ferries, docks, channels, etc.) continue to be threatened by storm surges, not only from named hurricanes, but from other seasonal storms as well.

I anticipate many more months to pass before everyone is fully recovered from the devastation from Hurricane Dorian.

Ocracoke residents and homeowners were the beneficiaries of numerous volunteer organizations and individuals who offered, time, expertise, comfort, and financial assistance to mitigate the trauma. Various governmental and public and private agencies have provided loans and grants to help homeowners and business owners. Many island businesses have reopened, but several are still closed while making repairs. A few have closed permanently.

As the 2020 hurricane season advances, I anticipate growing anxiety as we approach August and September, typically the most active period for storm development. Any major storms whose predicted tracks include the North Carolina coast will be cause for heightened concern.

Islanders have been acutely aware of global warming and rising sea levels for quite some time. Long-term solutions for individuals whose families have lived here for generations, as well as for relative newcomers who have built homes, established businesses, and immersed themselves in this community, can seem intractable. Few can imagine moving away. Family, friends, and a love for Ocracoke bind residents to this beautiful place. Homes, mortgages, business interests, and decades of involvement in the community keep people anchored to Ocracoke.

We can only hope that elevating homes and businesses, as well as staying informed about preparations for future hurricanes, along with local, state, and federal assistance in maintaining our roads and ferries (as bridges, tunnels, and roads are financed and maintained throughout the rest of the state) will help us deal effectively and creatively with any future storms.

Tom Pahl

Tom Pahl is the Hyde County commissioner for Ocracoke Township. He has lived on the island for 15 years and visited since a child. He is a licensed general contractor. His business, Landmark Designs, specializes in historic preservation. He witnessed the power of Dorian with his wife Carol at their home across from Silver Lake Harbor.

My experience with Hurricane Dorian was as an individual, a builder, as the county commissioner and chair of the Control Group. I was here during the storm and throughout  the long recovery stages. The storm had a significant impact on my business that I had to reorganize it to accommodate my  responsibilities  as the chair of the control group  and county commissioner.

I played a significant part of the decision to order an evacuation which is always focused on getting the visitors off the island. The reason for that is that following a hurricane, ferry services are suspended, and we have limited resources. We may have electricity, but it may be in limited supply. We definitely have minimal health care of any kind and food supplies are limited.

I’ve been involved in many of those decisions when we will issue an evacuation that includes residents. But we know very well when we do that, that we aren’t going to enforce it on them. It is just for the purpose of emphasizing to the residents of the island the importance of taking a storm seriously, especially if they have health issues or young children, etc.  The people who have lived here for years, know very well what’s involved with a hurricane.

If I could just suggest to the powers that be, have all our storms come during the daytime. It’s a lot less frightening when you can see what’s going on. A nighttime hurricane is a lot scarier because you can hear but can’t see. With a daytime storm, at least you can get some sense of its intensity.

In that early morning, we watched Dorian come in and didn’t anticipate that it was going to be any more nor less significant than a lot of hurricanes that we’ve been through. But then, we started watching the water come in. Normally, our experience is that the water kind of rises like in a bathtub. This water rushed in like a river, and that was the first sign to us that this might be a little bit different than what we’ve experienced before. There was whitewater in front of our yard. And it just kept on rising. It hit the Hurricane Matthew (2016) level, which was our high-water mark to that point, and then it continued rising for another foot and a half or almost 2 feet above Matthew. We saw breaking waves from the sound coming across Highway 12.

When it  came up to our top step and onto our porch, we suddenly considered our safety. We started moving critical things up to our second floor, not knowing when it was going to stop, but fortunately it did and reversed fairly quickly. It went out almost as fast as it came in.

Meanwhile, I was receiving text messages and phone calls about people around the island who were in trouble. I passed those messages along to the fire department. By that point, everybody knew we were in deep trouble.

The water dropped quickly enough that I put on a pair of chest waders and headed down Howard Street to see one of the families that I had got a message about that was in trouble. The new Methodist pastor Susie (Fitch-Slater) and her husband Tom (Slater) had apparently been driven up into their attic. I didn’t get very far and started to worry the still flowing current was strong enough that I would get knocked over. So, I went back and got a couple of walking sticks and sort of felt my way through the flowing water down toward their house.

Pastor Susie, I think, had only been here a couple of weeks. At that point, I had not yet been introduced to her. Their door had been pushed open by the water. I called out, you know, “Hello, hello,” and saw them sitting on their attic stairway. “Hi, Tom Pahl here. We haven’t met yet and I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m county commissioner and just wanted to welcome you to Ocracoke.”

I think it was funnier for me than it was for them.

By that evening, I moved from being Tom Pahl, private individual, to being a county commissioner. The State Emergency Management sent a bunch of people over by Blackhawk helicopter. And they brought county manager Kris Noble with them and so we began setting up an emergency operation that evening at the fire station and went full force on organizing the next day.

My life changed significantly in that I was basically working 12 to 14 hours a day on really two things: One was to create an organization that could manage the recovery, and then to being a part of that organization and managing the recovery, which was for the first couple of weeks at least, basically triage every single day.

Almost minute by minute, problems would come to us and we tried to decide which ones we could afford to push away for now, so that we could give our attention to the more critical ones.

It was a fascinating process and we had a lot of people step forward from the community who wanted to be a part of the recovery.

We had tremendous amount of donations from off island and how to manage them that was really one of our biggest jobs in terms of organization.

Dorian brought home to us, in a way that nothing else could have, the impact of climate change and what we can anticipate in the future. Our lives, our community, our economy, our social structure on the island have all been dramatically affected by the storm.

We need to think about the future of Ocracoke in ways that we haven’t before. We’re at the point now where we have to quit talking about talking about it and actually make some plans for the future and to work toward being the more resilient community because that’s our only option.

By resilience I mean it’s both physical and emotional.  Physically, if you drive around the island now, you’ll see dozens of homes that have been or are being elevated and many others that are going to be.

Emotionally, we need to be a community that understands what the challenges are coming and be ready for them.

I want to end by saying the level of generosity was heartbreaking. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I didn’t know  that amount of generosity existed in the world. It was a period of time when there was so much goodness flowing to this island that there wasn’t a day and in some days there wasn’t an hour that didn’t go by, where some act of kindness didn’t just cause tears to run down my face. I mean, people were so good and so kind, just overflowing with kindness and love for the island.

Ocracoke Island has long been famous for its charming cottages with front porches and flowers in tiny yards, tucked alongside narrow, tree-shaded roads winding through the village. But there’s nothing charming about being slammed with 7 feet of flood water.

In the wake of the devastation in September 2019 from Hurricane Dorian, Hyde County is seeking funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to elevate 114 houses in Ocracoke Village to about 8 feet above ground elevation, a proactive measure that will provide more resilience to the historic fishing community and popular tourist destination.

“It will look a lot different,” county manager Kris Noble said in a recent interview.

But Noble knew from the moment she saw Dorian’s wrath from the air what needed to happen for Ocracoke to recover: Its buildings had to be raised above flood waters.

“As we were flying over, it was basically just water and rooftops,” the manager recalled of the day-after storm scene. “The only dry land was the ball field.”

Noble, a Hyde County native, remembers when Swan Quarter, the county seat on the mainland, was flooded nearly as badly during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, when the courthouse, the firehouse and numerous homes in the unincorporated community — all barely above sea level – were inundated. Since then, she said, residents exhausted by fear of flooding, adapted to the changes in the interest of safety.

“Now when you ride through the village of Swan Quarter,” Noble said, “you see lots of elevated houses.”

Ocracoke Village, situated on the southern end of the Outer Banks between Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, has had its share of storm damage over its centuries-long history. But no one alive today has ever seen the water come up so high so fast.

Nearly every single property, including vehicles, suffered flood damage. Restaurants, inns, bed-and-breakfasts, motels, retail stores, outdoor recreational sites — all were affected. Cape Hatteras National Seashore had severe damage to its staff housing and National Park Service infrastructure, although fortunately the park’s famous Ocracoke ponies escaped unharmed.

“The ponies are like the people here,” Noble said. “They’re resilient.”

The state Department of Transportation also had damage to its ferry infrastructure and N.C. 12, the sole highway on the island, was severed and closed until Thanksgiving.

Noble said that the county had estimated that there was $30 million in property damages, not including the park service and NCDOT. After herculean cleanup efforts and complications from COVID-19, the village was able to recover enough to reopen to visitors this summer. Still, she said, between the losses in property and revenue and safety restrictions due to the pandemic, there are a number of businesses and attractions that have closed for good or have had to delay reopening.

Still, she said, the community has endured months of terrible stress and managed to restore and maintain much of the village’s character.

“The face is changing, but the face is beautiful,” Noble said. “It’s more attractive. It’s just been a really hard process.”

Chris Hilbert, with Wilmington-based Holland Consulting Planners, or HCP, said in an interview that he had first worked with Hyde County on housing mitigation work about 20 years ago. Often, he said, it can take two to five years to get the funding from FEMA. In the meantime, some homeowners find alternate sources of money to fix up their homes.

After Hurricane Isabel in 2003, 150 applications were submitted for grants to elevate or acquire properties on the mainland. Acquisitions are less common because of the high property values. Of the 50 applicants that were approved, 29 or so were elevated, including Noble’s house, he said. Mainland Hyde County, especially Swan Quarter, had also been hit hard in Hurricane Floyd in 1999, Hilbert explained. So, with damages inflicted again during Isabel, the repetitive losses made the grant money flow.

Additional applications were submitted by Hyde County in 2011 after Hurricane Irene, which flooded the Scranton area of the mainland. Since then, about 20 homes were mitigated, he said.

Then Hurricane Matthew came through in 2016, but Ocracoke felt the impact instead of the mainland. Although 12 applications for mitigation were submitted to FEMA, he said, the agency never got around to telling the county if it was even eligible.

Next, in 2018 there was Hurricane Florence, which bypassed Ocracoke for the mainland, again near Scranton. The county hired HCP in January 2019 to help with the application process.

Hilbert said he was in the process of trying to secure FEMA grants for Florence-damaged properties when Hurricane Dorian hit Ocracoke. A letter of interest had already been submitted to the agency by Hyde County, which turned out to be fortunate because it allowed the county to immediately set up an application process for Dorian mitigation for island properties.

Since the Florence applicants had not yet been submitted to the agency, N.C. Emergency Management, which administers FEMA funding in the state, was able to add Hyde County’s Dorian applications to the Florence applications.

An HCP housing inspector went to the island within a week to assess the situation and help the county secure state disaster recovery funds, Hilbert said June 30 in an email. The consultant returned later to photograph properties for the applications and provided a base map.

Hilbert said that the housing mitigation grants require approval from the state and FEMA, which explains why numerous locations are still dealing with Matthew grants.

“The really positive news is the State is finishing their review only 9 months after the actual event,” he wrote, “so the FEMA process must begin now, which will include environmental review and approval of 75% funding. The State will then pick up the other 25%.”

Hilbert said he can’t predict how many applicants will be approved, but in general, FEMA has been prioritizing lowest elevations and repetitive-loss properties. With many cottages at ground level, that should make Ocracoke a prime candidate.

Ocracoke, which has a year-round population of about 900, is not alone in having so many homes at sea level, he said. Between Hurricane Hazel in 1955 and Hurricane Fran in 1996, there were not many big storms on the East Coast. But Hazel did inspire a lot of construction of cinder block on slab houses, such as those in Atlantic Beach and Carolina Beach. The thinking was they could withstand flood waters, except they were still built barely above ground level. Even after Floyd’s massive flooding, people were still thinking it was a “once-in-a-lifetime” event, Hilbert said.

New houses on Ocracoke started being built on pilings in the 1990s, but having many more houses elevated will undoubtedly change the cozy feel in the village. The trade off, of course, is safety.

“That’s really what Ocracoke is looking at,” Hilbert said in the interview. “It’ll be fairly transformative.”

Considering the island’s location on the edge of the continent sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean, he said, Ocracoke has been fairly lucky to have dodged the bullet for as long as it did. And even when villagers wanted to raise their homes, until recently, there was no funding available to help them.

“It’s been a long time coming, but it’s almost been just a waiting game,” he said. “There was no government program that could provide money until they could show the need.”

Amy Howard, a native islander who manages her family’s business, The Village Craftsmen, on Howard Street, said that every one of the family’s buildings flooded to some extent, but her house on the corner got hurt the worst.

Built by her grandfather in 1957, Howard said the house was stripped down to three walls and subfloor. It has now been rebuilt and is standing 12 1/2 feet in the air, waiting to be permanently placed on pilings 8 feet above ground level.

But Howard, 48, said that while it’s a relief to not have to worry about flooding, the idea of elevated houses takes some getting used to “because I love the little low houses … running up to somebody on the porch … that community feel.”

The fact is, she said, most Ocracoke villagers know the risks of living on their island, and don’t see it as any more dangerous than living in other places prone to earthquakes, tornadoes, landslides or wildfires.

“I think most of us feel fairly optimistic,” she said.

Noble agreed that the community is looking forward, not back.

And if another storm comes this hurricane season?

“We’ll batten down the hatches,” she said. “I pray we get a break for a few years.”

Reprinted from Ocracoke Observer

The North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church Disaster Response, or NCCUMC Disaster Response, needs teams of volunteers and skilled individuals interested in assisting Ocracoke Island with the Hurricane Dorian rebuild effort.

NCCUMC Disaster Response is Ocracoke Island’s long-term rebuild partner, working in response to the flooding devastation by Hurricane Dorian.

Due to COVID-19, the organization in March was forced to suspend volunteer operations for nearly two months.

In May, they began reinstating scaled-down volunteer activities on Ocracoke Island and the following month resumed all volunteer operations but only with volunteers who reside in North Carolina.

Beginning this month, NCCUMC Disaster Response is accepting volunteers who reside in any state. The Methodist Disaster Response has put measures in place as a phased response to COVID-19.

Covid-19 limits housing availability but teams staying overnight or commuting for the day can be accommodated. Groups are directed to call 888-440-9167 to coordinate their arrival.

Individuals should reach out to Ocracoke Island’s Site Manager Valda Belyeu at 252-833-8358.

This story is provided courtesy of the Ocracoke Observer, a newspaper covering Ocracoke island. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Ocracoke Observer to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast. 

Topsail Beach will be reimbursed more than $2.5 million to cover the replacement of more than 312,000 cubic yards of beach sand following a damaging storm surge caused by the 2019 Hurricane Dorian.

Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA’s, total share for this project is more than $1.9 million and the state’s share is more than $640,000, according to the announcement Friday from the state and FEMA.

FEMA’s Public Assistance program provides grants for state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations to reimburse the cost of debris removal, emergency protective measures and permanent repair work.

Public Assistance is a cost-sharing program. FEMA reimburses applicants at least 75% of eligible costs and the remaining 25% is covered by the state. The federal share is paid directly to the state to disburse to agencies, local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations that incurred costs.

For more information on North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Dorian, visit FEMA.gov/Disaster/4465.

More than $2.2 million has been approved to reimburse Dare County for debris removal costs following Hurricane Dorian.

North Carolina and Federal Emergency Management Agency approved the funds that cover the removal of more than 105,500 cubic yards of hurricane-related vegetation and construction debris from roads and public property from Sept. 1-9, 2019, the state Department of Emergency Services announced Tuesday.

FEMA’s total share for Dare County’s debris removal expenses is more than $1.6 million and the state’s share is more than $565,000.

More than $19 million has been approved across the state for Hurricane Dorian-related expenses.

FEMA’s Public Assistance program is a cost sharing program that provides grants for state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations to reimburse the cost of debris removal, emergency protective measures and permanent repair work.

FEMA reimburses applicants at least 75% of eligible costs and the remaining 25% is covered by the state. The federal share is paid directly to the state to disburse to agencies, local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations that incurred costs.

For more information on North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Dorian, visit FEMA.gov/Disaster/4465.

Volunteers are needed to help clean up roadside debris on Ocracoke Island

The cleanup is planned to take place from 10 a.m.to 3 p.m. Thursday, March 26.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore is organizing the drop-in roadside cleanup of a 2-mile section of N.C. 12 that has debris left behind by last year’s Hurricane Dorian.

Volunteers can meet at the Ocracoke pony pen parking area to check in and can join at any time during the event.

Organizers suggest that volunteers bring leather gloves, sunscreen, lunch and snacks as well as wear appropriate clothing, including closed-toe shoes. Trash bags will be provided.

Those younger than 18 must have their parent or legal guardian with them to sign paperwork.

For additional information on volunteer opportunities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, visit www.volunteer.gov.

Ferry service employees had to work quickly after Hurricane Dorian to adapt in order to keep the response moving to a devastated Ocracoke Village, North Carolina Department of Transportation officials told a legislative panel last week.

The House Transportation Oversight Committee met Thursday to hear an update on the NCDOT Ferry Division’s hurricane response as part of an overall departmental review going into this year’s short session of the legislature.

Although damage was not as widespread as that from hurricanes Michael and Florence nearly two years ago, the financial hit to the ferry system from Hurricane Dorian was more than twice the $1.7 million cost of those storms combined.

As of Feb. 16, spending on Dorian preparation and recovery and repairs to damaged facilities had topped $4 million, according to the division’s latest estimates.

The bulk of the cost highlighted the role the division played in recovery for Ocracoke Island, where ferry service provides the only transportation link.

Immediately after the storm, ferry crews worked with the Coast Guard to test routes and reestablish service to the island. Limited service was restored Sept. 7, the day after Hurricane Dorian swamped the village, to move emergency supplies and personnel from the National Guard and Red Cross.

But Ferry Division Deputy Director Jed Dixon said that given the scope of the impact in the village and the extensive repairs needed to reopen N.C. 12, division officials decided to open a direct run between Hatteras and Silver Lake using a Pamlico Sound route similar to the one transited by division’s passenger ferry service, which started last summer.

With the larger, sound class vessels being used for the runs from Cedar Island and Swan Quarter, smaller vessels that are usually restricted to more protected river and sound crossings were employed.

“There was an urgency,” Dixon said. “These runs were challenging for us. We were only able to make those runs when weather permitted.”

Crews also had to work with ramps that were designed for larger ferries and were too steep to use for some vehicles.

Dixon said the extra run helped in the recovery at a critical time and provided additional ferry space for removing the massive amount of debris that followed the storm.

The division estimates it hauled off 26,861 stoves, refrigerators and other white goods and 6,780 tons of debris.

Dixon said the additional ferry runs were also important after a major setback on work to fully reopen N.C. 12 from South Dock to Ocracoke Village in November when a nor’easter struck the island.

“We had our challenges along the way. It seemed like at times Mother Nature just wouldn’t let up,” Dixon said, adding that fortunately NCDOT crews were positioned to move back into the work zone quickly.

“As soon as the weather subsided, we were right back at it. We had sandbags going in and were working to restore that road. Once the road was repaired, that took a lot of pressure off our sound routes to supply some more service.”

Work to repair damage to the stacking lanes for the South Dock station continues, Dixon said, including a shoreline stabilization project on areas that have seen repeated damage. He said that work is expected to be completed before the summer visitor season starts.

Costs tallied

Repairs made up $577,000 of the Ferry Division’s Dorian costs, so far, most of it on work to Ocracoke Island dorms and other infrastructure, which were flooded at the height of the storm.

Most repairs for the system are expected to be completed by May, except for work on the heavily damaged Ocracoke living quarters for crew and terminal, which could take 18 to 24 months to complete.

Major damage estimates include the following:

• $125,000 for Hatteras crew dorms.
• $30,000 for Hatteras grounds repair.
• $25,000 for Mann’s Harbor shipyard.
• $1.4 million for Ocracoke dorm rebuild.
• $175,000 for Ocracoke terminal.
• $75,000 for Ocracoke ticket booth.
• $50,000 Ocracoke grounds.
• $30,000 for Cedar Island terminal repairs.

Damage to employee dorms affects operations

Catherine Peele, planning and development manager for the division, said the damage to the dorms on Ocracoke and the lack of available housing after the storm made it more difficult to keep service operating.

She said it finally took a combination of hotel rooms and Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers to be able to keep ferry crews on the island.

“The main concern for the residents is that they wanted an early departure from Ocracoke to Swan Quarter so they could get over to the mainland and back in the same day,” Peele told legislators. “So being able to house those employees on Ocracoke, we were able to make that early morning run.”

The department purchased four FEMA trailers for employees and is seeking funds for another six. Peele said the trailers are not a long-term solution and once repairs to the dorms are completed, the division plans to keep some for temporary housing and disaster response in future emergencies.

Peele said the storm also had an impact on maintenance to the sound class vessels, but previously scheduled work was completed this winter.

She had some good news to report on tram service on the island. The original trams put into service last year with the debut of the passenger ferry were destroyed, along with most of the other vehicles on the island when floodwater swept across parking areas that usually remain high and dry during storms.

Peele said that Hyde County was able to obtain a grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation to replace the trams and that three trams will be available when passenger ferry service resumes this summer, with two more shortly after.

NAGS HEAD — In a heartfelt message of thanks, Hyde County Commissioner Tom Pahl, who represents Ocracoke on the board, spoke Thursday to a packed Outer Banks Community Foundation luncheon held at Jennette’s Pier.

Within 24 hours of Hurricane Dorian’s devastation of Ocracoke and the southern end of Hatteras Island, the foundation launched the Outer Banks Disaster Relief Fund. To date, the fund has received more than $1.5 million in donations with $1.2 million earmarked for Ocracoke and the balance donated for relief operations on Hatteras Island.

“There’s so much that you have done for us. You so rose to the need in ways that just take our breath away,” Pahl said. “Not just those first few weeks but daily since the beginning.”

Speaking on behalf of Ocracoke, which suffered the most damage, and neighboring Hatteras Island, Pahl went on to say, “I come bearing a message of gratitude … from everyone who has benefited so greatly from the Outer Banks Community Foundation Dorian Relief Fund. My message is simple and heartfelt. Thank you, we were all brought to tears by your generosity.”

His message was more than one of thanks. After telling a story about how important it is to be human in the face of disaster, he went on to describe what he sees in people that allows them to overcome even the most remarkable obstacles and to thrive.

“We’re human. We’re vulnerable. We bend but we don’t break,” he said. “We’re Ocracoke strong.”

The phrase, “Ocracoke strong,” has been emblazoned on hats and clothing items being sold to raise money for the village’s recovery and appeared on signs around the village soon after the storm as a statement of the islanders’ resiliency.

“Resilience is what will get us through the years to come. Resilience is to be human,” Pahl added.

He described in detail Hurricane Dorian’s devastating flood waters, telling the more than 200 guests that hundreds of residents of the village are still living in temporary housing, dozens of homes are being elevated and many homes—especially older ones—have been bulldozed.

“While that hurts, especially because some of those are family homes that have been in the family for two, three, four generations. Most of them are going to be rebuilt and rebuilt higher off the ground, achieving resilience,” he said. “While that will take years, we’ve started the process and we’re not going to stop.”

He also noted the importance of making resilience integral in Ocracoke’s and other Outer Banks communities’ planning.

“Change is constant on this sandbar. We can and we must make this place resilient.

“It’s going to cost money to do it,” he added. “The good news is that we don’t need new sources of money. What we need is to redirect our priorities, statewide and nationally to solve these problems. It’s an issue of how we allocate our resources.”

ROCKY MOUNT – The nonprofit North Carolina economic development group Golden LEAF has announced more than $2.5 million has been approved for disaster recovery projects for Ocracoke Island and other coastal North Carolina communities affected by recent hurricanes.

Golden LEAF’s board of directors approved the grants during their meeting last week, the organization announced Monday.

“Golden LEAF is dedicated to the long-term economic advancement of North Carolina,” Golden LEAF President and CEO Scott T. Hamilton said in a statement. “Our Board and staff work hard to get funding out the door and at work in the communities we serve.”

The following projects were approved for funding:

Hurricane Dorian

• $500,000 to Hyde County to build a new EMS station on Ocracoke Island. The existing station was flooded during Hurricane Dorian.
• $125,000 to Hyde County to replace the trams used to support the passenger ferry. The trams were destroyed by floodwater on Ocracoke during Hurricane Dorian.
• $900,000 to Hyde County schools for the repair and elevation of several buildings at the Ocracoke School campus, which was flooded by Hurricane Dorian.
• $278,000 to the Ocracoke Foundation of Hyde County to support the replacement of the main dock in the Community Square. The dock was destroyed during Hurricane Dorian.
• $277,400 to the Ocracoke Foundation to support repair of the Ocracoke Seafood Co. building. The building, maintained by the Ocracoke Foundation, was damaged during Hurricane Dorian.

Hurricane Florence:

• $50,000 to the Bald Head Island Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental research and education group, for the replacement of windows and the repair of a conference room area damaged as a result of Hurricane Florence.
• $300,000 to Pender County for the relocation of the boiler and other electrical components from the courthouse basement, which was flooded during Hurricane Florence.
• $34,727.97 to Swansboro  for the the replacement of a backup generator at the public safety building. The existing generator failed during Hurricane Florence.

Hurricane Matthew:

• An increase in funding to an existing award by $70,164.92 to Beaufort County to address increased costs for installation of two backup generators at critical water facilities. The county nearly lost water during Hurricane Matthew.

The announcement also included grants for job-creation projects in Catawba and Watauga counties.

The foundation also has a special initiative available to help connect dislocated workers to jobs to address urgent workforce needs. Applications are due by noon March 6.

The foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding received from a 1998 settlement with cigarette manufacturers. Its Disaster Recovery Grant Program is funded through state appropriations to make grants to governmental entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits to repair or replace infrastructure and equipment damaged or destroyed by hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Michael and Dorian.

Learn more

• www.goldenleaf.org

Reprinted from the Ocracoke Observer

It takes about a half hour by boat from Ocracoke’s Silver Lake harbor to the loading dock at Portsmouth village.

A group of birders took the ride in the early morning of the last day of 2019 to participate in the island’s annual Christmas Bird Count. This census started in 1988 and attracts between 15 to 25 participants who walk the village and beach identifying species and counting the number of individuals seen or heard.

A total of 18, though not all were hardcore birders, came over that morning. One was Allan Fairbanks, chief photojournalist for WCTI-TV 12 of New Bern. He was intrigued by both Portsmouth and the idea it would make a good story to cover the activity and provide a story on how Hurricane Dorian impacted the 20-plus structures. The news stories produced by WCTI-TV are available here and here.

Usually, Capt. Rudy Austin or his brother, Donald, of Portsmouth Island Boat Tours drops the birders off on the sound side to a long, empty dock, covered with broken shells dropped from above by herring gulls.

This year was different. Waiting to greet the group was Jeff West, Cape Lookout National Seashore’s superintendent and the park’s Lead Biological Science Technician Chelsey Stephenson and Evan Knight.

This count would be different in another way. The observers would get to see how changed the village was from the peaceful tranquility they experienced the previous December. Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 6 delivered to Portsmouth village the same 7-foot plus storm surge that devastated Ocracoke.

Portsmouth, part of Carteret County, was established in 1753 by the North Carolina Colonial Assembly and served as a point for shipping and fishing. Its heyday was the 1860s with a peak population of 860 residents who engaged in fishing and shipping and functioned as a lightering port, where cargo from oceangoing vessels could be transferred to shallow-draft vessels capable of traversing Pamlico and Core sounds to the mainland. Over its two centuries, there was never any electricity or running water.

The village went into decline as alternative means for getting goods to the mainland were used. The last residents left in 1971 and it is now administered by the National Park Service as part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Over the centuries, Portsmouth has withstood many hurricanes, some a direct hit such as Isabel in 2003. The 21 structures remaining today include a post office/store, church, school and a large lifesaving station. The rest are mostly homes and a few sheds. On the edge of the village, ocean side, are the park service infrastructure buildings for a generator, maintenance and to store tractors.

West thanked everyone, saying the longtime data gathering from the bird counts gives people a good idea of what species spend the early winter there. Over the 30 years, nearly 200 species have been identified in varying numbers from year to year.

Heading into the village, which is still officially closed to visitors, the group stopped at the Salter-Dixon house, which serves as the visitor’s center, to leave some gear on the porch and get their coverage assignments. Flying overhead was a flock of white ibis, and a clapper rail could be heard clucking in the marsh. Absent this year was a Merlin which often perches on a nearby tree, serving as a sentry.

The birders divided into four teams, two headed out to the dunes and beach, the other two carved up the village. West stayed with one of the village teams while Fairbanks filmed him talking about the damage and recorded the count activities.

West is a high energy, hands-on, blue collar administrator who loves to talk Portsmouth. When Ocracoke islander Dave Frum retired several years ago as the village’s part-time caretaker, he was not replaced due to budget constraints.

To make up for it, West often spends weekends there landscaping and doing small but much-needed repairs. He knows every building in the village and their status. None of it is good news.

After Dorian, West headed to the village by boat to assess the damage and take photographs. All of the structures were damaged and some may have to be torn down, he reported. Soon after, 68 volunteers and contractors, making up the National Park Service Incident Management Team, descended on the village for about three weeks to assist in cleaning up debris and stabilizing the buildings. The Arrowhead Fire Crew from Sequoia, California, sent 23 of their members.

The George Dixon house suffered so much damage that it may have to be demolished, West wrote in a report in the Doctor’s Creek Journal, recently published by the Friends of Portsmouth Island. He chronicled damage to all the structures in the village, two cemeteries and the infrastructure of the roads and docks.

And it wasn’t only the buildings that Dorian impacted. Fifty-four new inlets were carved into the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Almost all of them have since been filled in, but four remain.

Birds in the village can vary from year to year, or for that matter week-to-week or even day-to-day. After heavy rains and there are puddles in the grass around the church, shorebirds such as greater yellowlegs, dunlin and a few species of plovers can sometimes be seen foraging. Not this year.

The only shorebirds were a flock of nine killdeer that flew overhead. The large majority of shorebirds for this count were observed on the beach and along the inlet, including 300 short-billed dowitchers and 350 dunlin. The ubiquitous myrtle warblers were present throughout in good numbers as usual.

The presence of birds in an area where they are relatively unscathed by human presence can bring surprises and this year yielded some. On the beach area of Ocracoke Inlet near Doctor’s Creek and the Methodist Church was a resting flock of American oystercatchers and 60 were visible with the use of a high-powered spotting scope. Oystercatchers, normally solitary or in pairs, can congregate in large flocks like this in winter.

Numbers like this are normally farther south and this count usually gets about 10 to 12 individuals. About an hour later, an adult bald eagle glided by that spooked them into flight which permitted a more precise count of 94 individuals. It’s nice  when a bald eagle decides to help a Christmas Bird Count.

“Ocracoke and Portsmouth provided the perfect landscape for breaking in our new Muck boots!” said Elizabeth Cisne and Janeen Vanhooke jointly when asked about the day. They traveled from Nebraska and Chicago, respectively, to participate. “This was our second time at Portsmouth, and the show put on by the American oystercatchers there was amazing. Never have we seen such a large flock of them in flight. Where’s the camera when we need it?”

The other amazing feature of the count was the high number of brown pelicans. Tom and Susse Wright of Ocracoke ventured out to the beach on foot. There they encountered a long line of brown pelicans that they estimated to be 5,000. Again, that’s a large number to be in North Carolina this time of year. To pile on, the Ocracoke count that took place the day before had nearly 2,000 pelicans. Brown pelicans have been increasing in the mid-Atlantic and expanding into the Chesapeake Bay.

Since the temperatures have been seasonally much warmer and there is an adequate number of fish in the waters, these two factors may explain why so many are still in the region and not farther south.

Another high number was 154 royal terns. There is a large nesting colony of these terns on the dredge island at Big Foot Slough off Ocracoke where the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter ferries pass. Again, most winter in the warmer waters farther south.

Another special find was a blue-headed vireo, photographed in the village by Jeff Beane, another longtime veteran of the count. This was only the fourth time this vireo has been observed in the 30 years of the count.

Spending the last day of the year on Portsmouth Island located in this “watery part of the world,” to borrow from the title of Michael Parker’s well-written veiled novel about Portsmouth, is both an adventure and a memorable experience.

Portsmouth Island Christmas Bird Count list for Dec. 31, 2019:

• Snow goose: 4
• Brant: 80
• Gadwall: 110
• American black duck: 74
• Mallard: 2
• Redhead: 7,000
• Scoter sp. (unidentified species)
• Bufflehead: 2
• Hooded merganser: 14
• Red-breasted merganser: 6
• Northern gannet: 80
• Double-crested cormorant: 2,225
• Brown pelican: 5,000
• American bittern: 3
• Great blue heron: 2
• Great egret: 5
• Snowy egret: 4
• Little blue heron: 2
• Tricolored heron: 7
• Black-crowned night heron: 7
• White ibis: 58
• Northern harrier: 10
• Sharp-shinned hawk: 1
• Cooper’s hawk: 1
• Bald eagle: 2
• Clapper rail: 17
• Virginia rail: 1
• Oystercatcher: 94
• Black-bellied plover: 61
• Killdeer: 9
• Willet: 1
• Yellowlegs sp.: 18
• Sanderling: 200
• Dunlin: 350
• Peep sp. (small sandpiper unidentified by species): 1
• Short-billed dowitcher: 300
• Ring-billed gull: 1,547
• Herring gull: 29
• Great black-backed gull: 58
• Royal tern: 154
• Black skimmer: 1
• Belted kingfisher: 5
• Northern flicker: 7
• Eastern phoebe: 6
• Blue-headed vireo: 1
• House wren: 1
• Sedge wren: 5
• Marsh wren: 2
• Carolina wren: 8
• Golden-crowned kinglet: 1
• Ruby-crowned kinglet: 1
• American robin: 64
• Gray catbird: 6
• Northern mockingbird: 10
• Cedar waxwing: 40
• Common yellowthroat: 3
• Palm warbler: 2
• Yellow-rumped warbler: 378
• Chipping sparrow: 3
• Savannah sparrow: 4
• Song sparrow: 2
• Swamp sparrow: 1
• Eastern towhee: 20
• Northern cardinal: 3
• Red-winged blackbird: 4
• Eastern meadowlark: 5

Homeowners in Hyde County can apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to elevate their homes.

The county announced Wednesday that Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Hurricane Dorian, DR-4465, funds have been made available. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, or HMGP, covers 100% of funding to reduce or eliminate the risk of flood damage to buildings and structures.

Completed applications must be received by close of business Jan. 24. Hyde County will submit applications to the State of North Carolina and FEMA for review and evaluation. Submission of an application is no guarantee of funding.

To qualify, the home must be the primary residence, the owner agrees to carry flood insurance after elevation, and the home must be structurally capable of elevating. Having flood insurance coverage is not required to submit an application.

Hyde County accepts common housing assistance applications at any time from property owners at the Government Center in Swan Quarter who need help with housing needs.

After Hurricane Dorian, Hyde County began accepting common housing applications Sept. 30, 2019, from those with housing damage and needs. Applications were accepted on Ocracoke in October and November at the North Carolina Emergency Management Joint Resource Center in the Ocracoke Variety Store parking lot.

The application does not promise funding but gives county staff the necessary information to match the needs of property owners with resources that may come available through state and federal grant opportunities, including but not limited to HMGP funds. Assistance typically comes in the form of elevations, reconstructions and acquisitions.

Contact Rosemary Johnson at 252.926.4178 or rjohnson@hydecountync.gov to verify that there is an application on file for consideration or to file an application or visit the Ocracoke Community Center office from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Thursday to fill out an application.

OCRACOKE – Federal and state money to help Ocracoke and Hatteras recover from Hurricane Dorian has been slow getting here, but one Outer Banks nonprofit has been moving far more quickly than any government agency to provide relief where it can.

Jeff Byard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s associate administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery, denied on Oct. 8 Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for individual assistance for Ocracoke and other areas of the state Dorian devastated in September. A bill to provide state relief didn’t become law until mid-November.

The floodwaters that surged into Ocracoke Village Sept. 6 reached unprecedented levels. Nearly every structure on the island was damaged. Although FEMA had provided help in restoring infrastructure, the decision to withhold funds for individual assistance was unexpected, said Justin Gibbs, Hyde County Emergency Services director. Gibbs said the decision was not typical of the federal government’s disaster response in the past.

“It’s a very unique situation with not getting a federal declaration,” he said. “Usually this is something that is managed at the federal level. It’s not usually something that has to be managed locally.”

Recovery has also been slowed by transportation woes and a lack of housing for workers. Yet, recovery is happening.

“I’m not going to say ‘whole again,’ because they’re not ever going to be whole again, but they’re moving their recovery forward,” Gibbs said.

Based in Southern Shores, the Outer Banks Community Foundation was founded 37 years ago by, among others, David Stick and Andy Griffith. Moving quickly after Dorian, the foundation created the Outer Banks Disaster Relief Fund as the storm made landfall.

“On Friday, September 6, when Hurricane Dorian was still blowing, I started getting news that Ocracoke had just been slammed and that it was under water,” said Community Foundation Executive Director Lorelei Costa. “It became immediately clear that Ocracoke, which has always been a part of our service area, would need help of some sort. I talked to my board president, Scott Brown, and we decided to encourage donors to earmark gifts for Ocracoke or Dare County or split it between the two.”

By the end of the day, the Outer Banks Disaster Relief was on the Community Foundation’s webpage and press materials had gone out. The response was quick and powerful.

“By Monday morning (Sept. 9), we had raised $350,000. Five days after the storm we had raised a half million dollars. In two weeks, we had raised $750,000. In less than a month, $1 million and now we’re at $1.5 million,” Costa said recently.

The response has crossed borders, both state and national.

“I’ve gotten donations from all across the United States and beyond the United States. I’ve gotten donations from Asia, from Europe, and Canada,” Costa said. “We had donations with love letters to Ocracoke. We had donations from people who had never been to Ocracoke but told us they had always wanted to go there. We had letters from people who were married on Ocracoke, or who honeymooned on Ocracoke or vacationed there every year with their family. Same with Hatteras. People love the Outer Banks and want to help the community get back on its feet.”

The Community Foundation is the largest Outer Banks nonprofit and helps to fund local charities and nonprofit organizations with grants and by handling their endowments. The Relief Fund carries with it a distinctive stipulation.

“Our promise, our guarantee, is that every single penny contributed goes to the victims of Dorian. I’m not keeping a penny of it to pay for the stamps on the envelopes,” Costa said. “When somebody donates by credit card, we pay the credit card fees.”

Raising the money, however, was only one part of the equation. How to distribute those funds was equally as important.

“We gave a little bit of money to … help nonprofits whose own facilities or equipment or buildings were harmed,” Costa said. “A great example is the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association … with a fish house right on Silver Lake where fishermen would sell their fish and seafood. That building got completely wiped out. Coming up flounder season, the fishermen didn’t have an icehouse where they could store their fish. We gave them a grant of $7,000 to help rebuild their icehouse in time for that fishery.”

The Community Foundation also rebuilt the ballfields that were destroyed and helped buy books for the library.

“I think what makes Ocracoke special, it’s not a town. It depends upon Hyde County, and it really depend on its nonprofits for its quality of life,” Costa explained. “It was a nonprofit that built its ballfield. It’s a nonprofit that buys the books for the library. All of these wonderful places on Ocracoke that might have been public in other places, are all nonprofit.”

Helping the nonprofits, though, is a small part of where the money has gone.

As donations flooded into the Relief Fund, most of the money was being earmarked for Ocracoke.

“We’re at $1.1 million for Ocracoke and almost $300,000 for Dare County. That is commensurate with the needs for those communities,” Costa said.

Ocracoke had never dealt with that amount of nonprofit funding, something that became apparent as the process moved forward.

“Before this storm, a lot of disaster relief (on Ocracoke) was done by the two churches, but after this storm everyone realized this was beyond the capacity of the two churches to handle together,” Costa said. “We asked the fire department to help with the case management. Wonderfully, they agreed. Their business is putting out fires and helping with medical calls. They’ve not done anything like this, and it took us a while to get started.”

Charles Temple has taught high school English for 16 years. He is also a volunteer fireman, and he is one of six members of the committee who help distribute the money. Temple and Costa agreed that the distribution started slowly, mostly because everyone was dealing with their own disasters and no one was experienced in case management.

“The process of figuring out the way it was best to do this here took a minute,” Temple said. “There was probably some frustration about that, but we felt like it was worth doing right rather than doing fast.”

Temple noted the tight-knit nature of the Ocracoke community, saying it’s both a strength and a confounding issue when it comes to recovery.

“Down here, everybody is kin to, works with and (is an) ex of everybody else. It’s a very, very tight community where lines of loyalty, connection and obligation get very tangled, which is fine. It works really quite well,” he said. “But when you’re talking about handing out a million dollars, all of a sudden that changes the equation.”

Caseworkers were trained and those caseworkers then took on a second role.

“What we settled on was using caseworkers who could be advocates for their clients to us, but we wouldn’t know who the client was until we had already made decisions about giving out money,” Temple said.

And it has all been done on a volunteer basis.

A significant portion of the money has gone to taking care of immediate needs, moving quickly where government funding and agencies often take weeks if not months.

“Sometimes, if the water got in your house and it got to your washer and dryer, your stove and your refrigerator, you know you’re going to need that … OK, you’ve got an appliance package,” Temple said.

The firehouse committee, as the Ocracoke Fire Protection Association’s relief committee is informally known, has also helped with utility bills and has an agreement with the Variety Store, the local grocer.

“Getting to tell somebody you’ve got plenty of money, go get some food — don’t worry about that. Whatever else you’ve got to worry about, don’t worry about that. It’s pretty great,” he said.

The committee is doing more than funding household necessities. Through the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, or OSBM, Hyde County is purchasing 35 travel-trailers for use as temporary housing.

“They (OSBM) actually provided a $600,000 grant for temporary housing … They were FEMA assets that were used during Florence,” Gibbs said.

“We’ve committed $200,000 to help with hookups, placing power poles, water septic,” Temple added.

The Community Foundation and the firehouse committee are looking beyond the immediate needs, moving to ensure funds are available to address long-term issues.

“Long-term recovery is really long term — a year, even two years. That’s with home repairs and home rebuilds,” Costa said. “A lot of that is with volunteer labor in partnership with … the United Methodist Committee on Relief. They’re sending teams of volunteers to Ocracoke, helping families rebuild their homes. We are paying for the supplies and in cases of little projects that they can’t do, like electrical and HVAC, we’re helping with the subcontractors. We committed $300,000 for that on Ocracoke and maybe $100,000 to do that on Hatteras.”

The Ocracoke partnership among nonprofit funders, the community and government assistance as it becomes available is, Gibbs said, unusual and something that he said may need to be replicated in other places.

“I think with what we’re trying to do … I’m hoping we can be a model for a community in the future if they’re affected and they don’t get a federal declaration,” he said.

On the first Saturday afternoon in September, crews were cutting their way through broken pines and restringing the electric lines leading to Dare County Regional Airport on the northern end of Roanoke Island.

Doors and windows were wide open at the small aviation terminal to draw in some kind of breeze while a handful of local officials and reporters waited in the heat for the return of both electricity and the governor, who had landed on Ocracoke Island a few hours prior to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian that hit Sept. 6.

Rep. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, who had been inspecting repairs to the power grid earlier in the day, said as more information gets out from Ocracoke, the assessments just seemed to get worse. Asked about the contrast of what happened in his district and assessments that the state had somehow dodged a bullet, Hanig paused for a moment.

“This is how I try to explain it,” he said. “I say ‘everybody gets their turn’.”

Dorian was no Florence or Matthew, he said, but try telling that to the thousands of people in his district who lost it all.

Although a minor storm in terms of total damage, in context Dorian was another devastating event for a region that is still reeling physically, financially and emotionally from storms that changed not just lives and landscape in eastern North Carolina, but the way we think about and plan for storms to come.

Dorian underlined the risk that North Carolina faces from a changing climate that produces more frequent, wet and powerful storms at a time when the state was still grappling with the real world consequences of that risk.

For most of the spring and summer, Gov. Roy Cooper and legislators debated the extent of funding for transportation and water and sewer resiliency, as well as how best to prevent or mitigate damage from future floods.

The state’s capacity and competence in distributing a massive flow of federal recovery funds also was hotly debated while a new state agency, the Office of Recovery and Resiliency, took shape to oversee not just the distribution of aid, but to develop a new strategy that went beyond the storm-by-storm approach of the past.

In that way, the floods from the prior fall set the stage for much of what shaped 2019. The mounting toll from Hurricane Florence in September 2018 and the lingering effects from the fall of 2016’s Hurricane Matthew continued to pull down local economies throughout eastern North Carolina and challenged state, local and federal recovery officials to retool their approach to hurricane recovery.

The 2018 election also had a big effect on what happened this year. The vote reset the power balance in Raleigh and led to what would become a yearlong stalemate on where to focus policy and resources.

Both dynamics carry forward into the New Year, as does the worry that the state’s highly polarized partisan atmosphere will only get worse as the election year heats up.

The longest long session in modern legislative history is set to resume Jan. 14. Although the fiscal year ended June 30, the state is still without a full budget, funded instead by a continuation of spending at last year’s levels and a series of mini-budgets aimed at specific areas.

Still unsettled are a wide array of environmental policies and still without appropriations are several environmental initiatives and dozens of proposed infrastructure repairs and upgrades for small towns throughout the state.

Legislative leaders haven’t laid out plans for what will happen when they return or even if it will even be the last time the General Assembly convenes before the regular “short session” starts in May.

If the pattern established this year continues, then add another milestone for 2019: the year we switched to a year-round legislature.

Here’s what else happened in 2019:

January

• A new General Assembly was sworn in. The highly competitive and active 2018 cycle resulted in enough new seats for Democrats that although still in the majority, GOP leaders no longer hold supermajorities in both the state House and Senate.
• Former U.S. Housing and Urban Development official and congressional staffer Laura Hogshead was named the chief operating officer of the state’s new Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
• The Outer Banks Preservation Society asked visitors to respect national parks and areas along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore after a partial federal shutdown leaves them unattended.
• The Salmon Creek property in Bertie County, which is believed to be tied to the Lost Colony, was transferred by the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust to the state Division of Parks and Recreation.
• Roanoke Island sea turtle assistance and rehabilitation workers reported a surge in the number of cold-stunned turtles for the month.
• The state’s Coastal Resources Commission announced a new of dune rules.
• Cleanups took place at national park facilities after the end of partial government shutdown.

February

• The state mailed out $11.6 million in checks to commercial fishing operations for losses due to Hurricane Florence, the first round of payments under a new assistance program.
• The state Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board toured the Wilmington area including Sutton Lake coal ash ponds and Superfund sites around Navassa.
• Conservation groups filed together a motion in federal court to stop seismic surveys while a lawsuit challenging the testing moved forward.
• Work continued on a state-funded marine debris cleanup program that employed commercial fishing crews to clean up marshes and islands.
• The Coastal Resources Commission advanced a new set of inlet hazard maps and rules, the first major revision proposed since 1981.
• Twelve-term Congressman Walter B. Jones Jr., whose district included coastal counties from Currituck to Onslow, died on his 76th birthday.
• Cooper testified before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on the impact of climate change in North Carolina.
• Sunset Beach Mayor Greg Weiss, elected in October 2018, abruptly resigned.
• At 12:20 p.m. Feb. 25 the new bridge over Oregon Inlet opened to traffic. The day before, residents were invited to walk across the spans, which reach as high as 90 feet above the inlet.
• A dead humpback whale washed up on the beach near Corolla, the seventh winter stranding on Outer Banks beaches.

March

• Mysterious booms, similar to so-called Seneca Guns, were heard along the coast.
• In another indication of deteriorating water quality at Lake Mattamuskeet, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posted signs warning the public about harmful algae blooms.
• Dare County Commissioners approved plans for the Shallowbag Bay dredging project to help move the 16th-century replica vessel Elizabeth II that’s been stranded near the Manteo waterfront.
• Cooper issued budget plans that included funds for improvements for DEQ’s Reedy Creek labs, storm resiliency, PFAS monitoring and research and clean water infrastructure.
• North Carolina joined eight other states in a legal fight to stop seismic testing.
• Topsail Island towns began selecting restoration projects for heavily damage beaches through a grant program managed by Resource Institute, a Winston-Salem based nonprofit that was granted funding for the project.
• DOT officials announced that a passenger-only ferry between Ocracoke and Hatteras won’t be ready in time for tourist season.
• The state DOT board approved naming the new bridge over Oregon Inlet for former state Senate President and Manteo native Marc Basnight.
• The New Hanover County planning board approves a special use permit for a proposed sand mine adjacent to a toxic groundwater site.
• At the annual Oyster Summit, coastal legislators announce new oyster legislation signaling a deal on how to handle new leasing programs and conflicts with other users of public trust waters.
• Dare County officials reviewed the continuing deterioration of navigation channels around Oregon Inlet, making it difficult to move equipment in to demolish the old Bonner Bridge.
• Federal officials approved next steps for planning the Mid-Currituck bridge project.

April

• Officials held an opening ceremony of the Marc Basnight Bridge April 2 amid a nor’easter that Cooper described as a symbol of Outer Banks residents’ resilience and dedication.
• EPA announced plans to open up 100 acres, about half of the Navassa Superfund site, to development saying that part of the site does not pose a threat to public health.
• Work wrapped up on a $20 million post-Florence beach renourishment project at Bogue Banks.
• State officials approved a streamlined permitting process for the use of marsh sills and other living shoreline techniques for erosion controls.
• A coalition of environmental groups announced plans to take legal action to stop the Mid-Currituck bridge project.
• The CRC granted a variance to the State Ports Authority after officials appealed the denial of a permit to expand the Wilmington port turning basin.
• The Oak Island Bridge, closed for six months during repairs, reopened to traffic.
• DOT announced a lease for a new passenger-only ferry for the Ocracoke to Hatteras route.
• Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced that the administration is putting on hold drilling plans for the Atlantic pending appeals of a court order blocking offshore drilling in the Arctic.

May

• DEQ ordered testing of public water systems throughout the Cape Fear River watershed for PFAS and other emerging contaminants.
• The state House introduced its version of the budget, which included significant funding for disaster recovery and resilience.
• More than a dozen coastal mayors met with DEQ Secretary Michael Regan in Manteo to sign a statement in opposition of offshore drilling.
• Offshore drilling and seismic testing opponents linked up on North Carolina beaches for Hands Across the Sands events.
• Sen. Harry Brown announced that he is seeking to revive legislation aimed at limiting wind energy projects in eastern North Carolina.
• Jessica Whitehead, a longtime specialist in coastal community hazards adaptation with North Carolina Sea Grant, was named the state’s first Chief Resiliency Officer in the new Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
• After a series of early season drownings, coastal rescue officials emphasized warnings about rip currents, a theme which continued throughout the season.
• State Senate released its version of the budget that offered no funds for DEQ work on PFAS and reduced the department’s overall funding.
• Duke University scientists released studies of Sutton Lake that show a long-term process of unreported and unmonitored coal ash spills.
• The PFAST Network, a group of public and private universities involved in emerging contaminant research, held in Wilmington a widely attended public forum on its work.
• Debate over Duck’s beach access policies heated up after a confrontation that led to a trespassing arrest.
• Algae blooms started forming in the Perquimans, Pasquotank and Chowan rivers.
• Division of Water Resources staff and other state officials investigated a fish kill in the lower portion of the Neuse River near Havelock in the areas of Flanners Beach and Carolina Pines.

June

• New shellfish legislation was signed into law. The bill created rules for leases and established new shellfish enterprise zones, set up a pilot program in Pamlico Sound for three large-scale leases and expanded areas allowed for growing seed oysters in floating upweller platforms, known in the trade as a FLUPSY.
• A state study called for more laws to help local governments deal with derelict vessels.
• North Topsail Beach officials bristled over an analysis by the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University that a buyout of vulnerable properties would be far cheaper than the money spent saving them.
• House and Senate leaders reached a budget deal and passed a new, two-year spending plan, but the margin included only a handful of Democrats. Cooper quickly vetoed the bill.
• Avangrid Renewables began to study the seabed and subsurface conditions using high-resolution geophysical surveys of the Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind Lease Area about 24 miles off the North Carolina and Virginia coasts.
• Cape Lookout National Seashore officials temporarily closed 19 miles out of 47 miles to motor vehicles to protect record numbers of nesting shorebirds and sea turtles.
• Hunting ended on Carrot Island after a new law putting the protected land in the town of Beaufort corporate limits took effect.

July

• The Swan Island Oyster Reef in Pamlico Sound, part of the Jean Preston Oyster Sanctuary Network, was completed.
• WesternGeco, a seismic testing company, filed an appeal after North Carolina denied it a permit to start testing.
• After EPA officials rejected the change, the state Environmental Management Commission formally dropped the controversial swamp water classification for the lower Cape Fear River basin.
• DOT received approval for sandbags to protect the loop at the north end ferry landing on Ocracoke Island.
• A $5 million state grant to nonprofit Resource Institute for beach renourishment and restoration work was redirected by the legislature to North Topsail Beach, Surf City and Topsail Beach after concerns were raised about the firm’s lack of experience with coastal work.
• State health officials issued more warnings about algae blooms around Albemarle Sound.
• Testifying in a redistricting trial, Sen. Harry Brown said a bill limiting wind energy projects was dead for the session.
• Beaufort artist Craig Gurganus, known for using recycling surfboards to create colorful fish sculptures and a longtime supporter of coastal protection, died at 66.
• Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials announced Tuesday that for the third time in five years, a sea turtle nesting record has been broken, with the discovery of the 326th nest.
• The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island announced that Molly, the North American river otter that delighted visitors for nearly 18 years, was euthanized after having a seizure.

August

• A national real estate industry study showed that North Carolina ranks second among states with the highest number of new homes in the 10-year flood risk zone.
• The CRC’s Science Advisory Panel announced that a new update of the state’s seal level rise report would extend beyond the 30-year limit of the last report.
• State officials approved a new plan for water quality improvements for Lake Mattamuskeet.
• The Southport-Fort Fisher ferry route was shut down after a mechanical failure in the ramp system at the Southport terminal.
• A 110-acre tract on the southern tip of Topsail Island was put on the market, prompting concerns about over development.
• State Marine Fisheries Commission approved new southern flounder limits.
• Ferry Division officials reported that the Ocracoke Express passenger ferry was expected to have transported 30,000 passengers between Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Village between when it launched in May and Labor Day Weekend.

September

• Over Labor Day weekend, Cooper declared a state of emergency in all 100 counties as forecasters said Hurricane Dorian, stalled over Grand Bahama Island, could speed up and reach the North Carolina coast within days. Curfews began in several coastal towns and counties.
• Hurricane Dorian grazed the North Carolina coast along the Outer Banks. Its winds downed power lines dozens of miles inland, drove the waters of Pamlico Sound into soundside communities on Hatteras Island and caused extensive flooding and damage on Ocracoke Island.
• Multiple tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Dorian caused damage in several coastal counties, including the destruction of more than 30 homes at a mobile home park in Carteret County.
• Helicopters, small planes and emergency ferries ran supplies to Ocracoke where residents reported that a tsunami-like wave of water destroyed homes and businesses and put nearly every vehicle on the island out of commission. No deaths or severe injuries were reported.
• The House approved a disaster relief mini-budget that included funding for resiliency planning, housing buyouts, Bogue Sound conservation and repairs at UNC-Wilmington. The Senate passed a much more stripped down plan that only covered required matching funds for federal grants.
• The Clean Water Management Trust Fund awarded Cedar Point a $1 million grant to help pay for a 56-acre park on the White Oak River.
• Dominion Energy announced plans to build the largest offshore wind development in the country in federal waters 27 miles off Virginia Beach. Economic development officials in northeastern North Carolina said the project would boost the economy in the region.
• After more than a monthlong shutdown, ferry service resumed between Southport and Fort Fisher.

October

• After months with little progress on budget negotiations with the governor, legislative leaders announced they would spend the month moving a final set of bills, including the last round of mini-budgets, to fund various agencies and departments.
• Ferry system officials reversed a decision to shut down ferry service between Hatteras and Ocracoke Village citing widespread demand.
• President Trump approved North Carolina’s request for a major disaster declaration for counties hit by Hurricane Dorian, allowing FEMA Public Assistance programs to cover debris removal and repairs to public infrastructure.
• A new analysis found levels of PFAS far higher than previously reported around the Wilmington intake at Lock and Dam No. 1 in samples collected between 2014 and 2016.
• An archaeologist with the state’s Underwater Archeology Branch said a recently exposed wreck across from the Wreck Tiki Bar and Food in Hatteras Village could be the Dulcimer, English bark stranded in February 1883.
• Legislators approved a transportation mini-budget that included $11 million to raise power lines over the Cape Fear River near the Port of Wilmington, $1 million to cover the cost of leasing a passenger ferry for the Hatteras to Ocracoke Village run, and money for repairs and renovations for hurricane damaged facilities.
• The Coastal Federation reported to the Coastal Resources Commission that commercial fishing crews collected about 200 tons of marine debris through a Hurricane Florence recovery project.
• The Division of Water Resources started work on a dredge spoils project to identify areas in state waters where sand from nonfederal dredging projects can be deposited.
• Legislators approved a wide-ranging environmental bill that freed up additional matching funds for beach repair and renourishment and financially distressed water and sewer systems and required and a new statewide inventory of firefighting foam.
• FEMA rejected a state request for individual assistance, which provides direct assistance to homeowners, saying damage thresholds had not been met. Cooper and other officials said the state would step in with additional help.
• At a public meeting, Navassa residents questioned an EPA proposal on developing a portion of the area’s Superfund site deemed safe.

November

• House and Senate negotiators settled on a $180 million disaster recovery bill that covers the state match for federal aid for hurricanes Matthew, Florence and Dorian, and Tropical Storm Michael; $1.7 million for Ocracoke School repairs; money for flood control at Lake Mattamuskeet; and stream debris removal. The bill also included $15 million for the Office of Recovery and Resiliency for local government support and hazard mitigation planning.
• Hurricane-weary residents braced for more high winds and water and road overwash as a powerful storm packing sustained winds between 30 and 50 mph roared across the Outer Banks. Sand and standing water on N.C. 12 blocked passage on Pea Island and Hatteras Island and set back efforts to reopen Ocracoke Island, still closed due to Hurricane Dorian damage.
• The state took ownership of 35 acres at Sunset Beach that will be added to the Bird Island Coastal Reserve, ending a long legal fight over a proposed development for the area.
• Southport halted planning work on a new wastewater treatment plant near Sunny Point after residents in the area objected. Town officials agreed to not build their own plant and instead would coordinate expansion needs with Brunswick County.
• NOAA announced plans to phase out paper nautical charts.
• Officials with the state Clean Water Management Trust Fund announced a scaled back set of grants after the state budget impasse caused its funding to drop this year by $7 million. Audubon North Carolina said a similar, $8 million cut to the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund could delay plans for the Lea Island Natural Area, an undeveloped barrier island between Topsail Island and Figure Eight Island that’s a critical nesting habitat for birds and sea turtles.
• Coast Guard crews said a company responsible for a damaged tugboat that collided with Bonner Bridge deployed spill containment equipment after the vessel began leaking fuel.
• Hyde County Commissioners signed off on a $600,000 state grant for Hurricane Dorian survivors to pay for 35 travel trailers for temporary housing and rental assistance for residents forced to temporarily relocate.

December

• Ocracoke Island, off limits to the public since the first week of September, reopened Dec. 2. Three days later, DOT officials reopened all sections of N.C. 12 on the island. In addition to overwash and damaged dunes, more than 1,000 feet of pavement was destroyed in the storm.
• Just as candidate filing for 2020 elections opened, a panel of judges reviewing a congressional redistricting lawsuit accepts newly redrawn districts. The changes are likely to yield a two-seat pickup for Democrats, shifting the partisan makeup of the congressional delegation from 10 Republicans to eight and three Democrats to five.
• A new study by Environment North Carolina detailed risks from leaks and accidents at onshore facilities required to support offshore drilling operations.
• Eight-term Sen. Brown, R-Onslow, the Senate Majority Leader and the chamber’s top budget writer, announced he would not run again in 2020.
• Coast Guard crews began work to remove the 88-foot Sea Angels that ran aground near a restricted part of Browns Inlet in Onslow County. The area has been used for military live fire training since World War II.
• A massive sewer overflow in Wilmington sent about 2.44 million gallons of untreated wastewater to Smith Creek.

The state’s request to add Bladen and Chowan counties to the disaster declaration for Hurricane Dorian has been approved by the federal government.

“Today’s news is an important step forward for North Carolinians recovering from Hurricane Dorian and we are committed to helping these individuals get the necessary assistance they deserve,” said Gov. Roy Cooper in the announcement released Tuesday by his office.

Federal Emergency Management Agency public assistance will become available to the local governments, state agencies and certain private nonprofits in these  two counties, allowing for reimbursement of costs spent repairing infrastructure and public facilities damaged by Hurricane Dorian.

The total North Carolina counties eligible for FEMA Public Assistance for Dorian is now 28 and include Beaufort, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Greene, Hoke, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Washington and Wayne counties.

FEMA Public Assistance is a cost-sharing program with FEMA providing 75% and the state 25%, to reimburse eligible disaster-related debris removal, emergency protective measures and the repair or restoration of public facilities such as roads, bridges, water control facilities, buildings, equipment, public utilities, parks and recreational facilities.

Marcy Brenner’s piano had seen a lot in 111 years, but never anything like the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian on Ocracoke.

The storm surge that Dorian drove into Ocracoke was like none that had been seen before. Wind, waves and storm combined to create an 8- to 9-foot mini-tsunami that pushed flood waters into the village a full foot higher than any previous storm.

“I knew that this environment could be trouble for the piano but it has weathered storms and humidity and coastal life quite well. I never dreamed I would see it standing in 2 feet of Pamlico sound water,” Brenner said.

The piano is a 1908 Steinway baby grand. It had traveled with Brenner when she left California for a new life in Kitty Hawk and later on Ocracoke Island.

“The piano has become a touchstone, my metaphor for the storm, for life,” she said.

Ocracoke Island is set to reopen to visitors at 5 a.m. Monday, but it’s difficult to describe how complex the recovery from Dorian will continue to be for island residents. With ferries providing the only way on and off the island, there is no possibility for a quick fix.

“Right now one of our biggest problems is getting materials to the island.”

Tom Pahl, Hyde County commissioner

The ride across Pamlico Sound on the state ferries from Swan Quarter or Cedar Island to Silver Lake in the heart of Ocracoke is a two- to two-and-a-half-hour ride, depending on which ferry is taken. Until Sept. 6 when Dorian struck, the trip from Hatteras to Ocracoke was one hour, with the ferry docking on the north end of the island.

Dorian’s storm surge breached the dunes just south of the terminal, severely damaging N.C. 12, the road from the dock to the village. With the north ferry dock inaccessible, the Hatteras ferry was forced to make a two-and-a half-hour trip to Silver Lake and use an emergency ramp that cannot handle heavy trucks.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation had hoped to reopen the north terminal on Nov. 22, but then a powerful nor’easter Nov. 17-18 washed over the dunes again. The early indication was that it did not damage the road as badly as Dorian, and a tentative reopening date was set for Dec. 6, said David Otts, NCDOT’s resident engineer on the project.

When the weather is good and the visitors line the streets, the tenuous link is a blessing. But now, when the needs of the community are so great, that ribbon of road and strip of sand dunes protecting it highlight how fragile the connection is.

“What most people consider isolation makes it difficult, and only having the sound-route ferries and not even having the Hatteras-route ferry has slowed it (recovery) down tremendously,” said Pastor Ivy Belch of the Ocracoke Assembly of God Church. “If you had the Hatteras-route ferry you could have workers staying in Hatteras and coming and work and go back and have a place to stay … That’s the reality of the situation of what we have here now.”

“Right now one of our biggest problems is getting materials to the island,” said Tom Pahl, the Hyde County commissioner who represents Ocracoke.

His concerns are underscored by Ken Daniels, the owner of Manteo Furniture, who has been supplying Ocracoke with furniture and appliances for years from the store’s Manteo warehouse.

Daniels continues to send his trucks to the island, but every trip entails a 14- to 15-hour day for his employees.

“They try to catch the 6 o’clock (Hatteras ferry) so they have to get to the store by 4:30 so they can get there by 6,” he said. “They get over there and they have four or five hours and they have to catch the ferry to get back. They get back here at 7 and drive home. That’s a long day for people.”

Compounding the supply problem is the emergency ferry ramp that cannot handle large trucks.

“They won’t let us take our big truck on our Hatteras Silver Lake ferry. So we have to use our small truck, which means we can’t put much on it. You can put maybe eight appliances,” Daniels said.

The Swan Quarter ferry can take larger trucks, but the schedule does not work as well for the Manteo Furniture deliveries.

The extent of the damage to homes and businesses here remains unclear. What is known is that almost every structure in Ocracoke Village has been damaged.

Hyde County officials have counted 90 families living in seasonal rental homes that owners have made available. That is a temporary solution. At some point those homes will have to go back into rental programs and there is no assurance that the damaged housing will be ready, although for the time being it seems stable.

“Most of the people that are in that situation, it’s not 100% guaranteed, but it’s mostly through February,” Amy Howard said. Howard, the manager of the Village Craftsman, is a seventh generation Ocracoke native and, like many of her neighbors, she, her husband Dave Tweedie and their son are temporarily homeless.

“I have a place to stay because my dad is not in town. When he comes back to town …” she said.

Howard and other residents are adamant that the Hyde County figure is low. They point out that many of the displaced families are living with friends or relatives and that a more realistic figure is more likely at least 350 people who live on the island are not in their homes.

If that is the case, then 35 to 40% of the village’s housing was uninhabitable after Dorian.

Although the loss of housing is, arguably, the most critical difficulty facing the Ocracoke, it is not the most visible.

More visible are the damaged businesses lining Irvin Garrish Highway as it parallels Silver Lake, a street and waterfront that even during the shoulders of the tourist season are normally filled with tourists sitting by the harbor, sipping a beer with a basket of fish and chips in front of them, or a street filled with visitors strolling by the shops and stopping in from time to time.

It is a devastating economic blow to a village dependent upon tourism for its survival.

“You break even through August,” Howard said. “September, October, November you make your money to live through the year. Essentially we had three days in September. It’s going to hurt. Right now it really hasn’t sunk in.”

What is also visible are the mounds of refuse, lining the road across the highway from Howard’s Pub, which is damaged and closed, or piled into a great hill of the detritus of people’s lives at the Lifeguard Beach parking lot just north of the village.

Removing the mounds of trash left by Dorian will require a Herculean effort. Two, or perhaps three, trucks a day can board the ferries to haul the trash to a transfer station. Pahl pointed out that it is unclear how long it will take to move the last of the rubbish off the island.

“It’s a moving target. There’s still a lot of projects of homes involved in either full demolition of the entire home or demolition related to construction. As they’re getting it hauled out, there’s more being placed, so there’s not really a target,” he said. “The last I heard there was something like 280 to 300 truckloads to be removed from where it’s been staged.”

Although the story of Ocracoke is a tale of disaster, it is also the story of how people view that disaster and move through it.

Pastor Susie Fitch-Slater had just come to the Ocracoke United Methodist Church in July. After the rush of the summer, she thought that perhaps she could relax a bit and read a lot of books. That changed on Sept. 3.

“Dorian came and forever changed our lives,” she said. “I stayed for the storm. Our house on Howard Street was flooded as well. We had to go into the attic because of the flood water. I’m displaced as well. We left the house, and you come to the church hoping to find something better and the pews are upside down and floating, and you open the door and the Bibles and hymnals float out the door.”

“Dorian came and forever changed our lives.”

Susie Fitch-Slater, pastor, Ocracoke United Methodist Church

“I realize now that I spent those first few weeks walking around totally disoriented, totally not knowing where I belong. I have no home; I have no church. Every aspect of life has changed,” she added.

As the days and weeks moved forward, Pastor Susie began to witness a difference in the way people viewed what they were experiencing.

“One of the first things I noticed, when people met each other and asked how they were doing, you didn’t say, ‘Oh you’re going to be OK.’ It was, ‘We’re going to be OK. We are going to get through this,’” she said. “I started to pay attention to that because it was the collective ‘we.’ It was that sharing, which I think made a big difference in everything.”

If there is a shared pride on Ocracoke Island, it is the school. With an enrollment of 185 students, the kindergarten through 12^th grade school is a North Carolina School of Excellence. It was also severely damaged by Dorian’s flooding and the building will probably have to be replaced. Classes are now scattered among three locations.

What was lost was more than just classroom space, however. Teachers gather files and information from year to year that helps make them more effective when they are working with students.

“Only three of us did not lose anything. The others lost most of their books and manipulatives (flashcards, blocks and other materials used extensively in primary grades), which is a devastating blow for the primary grades. Files, which have been collected and built upon for years, were flooded and discarded,” said third-grade teacher Martha Taylor.

The teachers have been affected much the same as the rest of the community.

“The students who stayed through the storm have had a life experience they will never forget.”

Martha Taylor, teacher, Ocracoke School

“Sixty percent of the teachers are displaced,” said Mary McKnight, the school’s guidance counselor. “I am displaced, too. We moved in in August. New appliances, the whole thing. After Dorian we had 15 inches of water in the house, and 19 inches in a lower spot.”

Dorian’s biggest effect may be on the students.

“Some of the students are faring better than others, naturally. The students who stayed through the storm have had a life experience they will never forget. Some of them were forced to leave their dwellings as the tide rose higher and higher, being carried, or wading to higher ground as the water pushed through,” Taylor said.

Students’ reactions have varied, with different age groups reacting differently, McKnight noted.

“Middle school is kind of tough in general and then you throw a traumatic event at them. Then you put them all in a non-classroom environment. We’ve seen some tempers flare, just a little bit of lack of self-control, distracted by everything that’s going on around them,” she said.

“High school students immediately went to work for their parents. A lot of those kids were in homes that were flooded, (and are busy) running errands for their parents,” she said. “But middle-schoolers are in that awkward, in-between age where you’re maybe not old enough to do some of the hard stuff but you’re too old to just be babied and taken care of.”

Ocracoke remains under the evacuation order issued Sept. 3 in advance of Dorian, open only to residents, property owners, emergency workers and by permit only. But Hyde County commissioners voted 4-1 on Nov. 20 to reopen Ocracoke to all visitors effective Dec. 2.

The decision was controversial, and Pahl, who voted to reopen the island, acknowledged that not everyone on Ocracoke Island agreed with his decision.

“It has been a little bit contentious. This is true about everything that we’re dealing with. But I get way more thanks than people yelling at me. It’s really easy to let the negative overwhelm the positive. But there’s a lot of positive,” he said.

Chip Stevens, the owner of Blackbeard’s Lodge, traces his family roots to the days of Blackbeard. He said lifting the evacuation order was premature. Of particular concern is that an influx of visitors could slow the recovery time, pushing repairs into spring when a larger flow of visitors can be expected to arrive.

“It’s … about the island and how quickly we can get up and running again,” he said. “Let’s say you’re a town anywhere – in Iowa – and there’s an earthquake. All of a sudden, every single route into the town, each one is only open for two-hour increments. And you’ve got to get all your stuff in and at the same time you have to rebuild everything. That’s kind of where we are. We have to get all this crap off and we’ve got to get 1.3 times back on to rebuild.”

NCDOT estimates that the Hatteras Inlet ferry route and the stretch of N.C. 12 that extends to the north end of the island will be available again by Dec. 6. The opening of the route to the north should speed recovery, but scope of the damage is so great that the effects of Dorian will linger for months.

“How the island was affected this time with all the residents who were displaced from their homes and the damage that has taken place to home structures business structures, every word of devastating, every syllable you can pronounce of it has been that for Ocracoke,” Pastor Ivy said. “From a personal standpoint of growing up on Ocracoke – my family is from here on my mom’s side – it is devastating. And on top of that, being a pastor and looking at it from that perspective, in your mind you really can’t move quick enough. That’s the most devastating part of it.”

Reprinted from Island Free Press

Ocracoke Island will look very different when it reopens to visitors Monday as repairing and rebuilding activities from the inundation Sept. 6 by Hurricane Dorian will continue for many months.

Debris from building tear-outs and demolition will be along the roads throughout the village, so extreme caution is advised. As islanders are busy repairing their homes and businesses, visitors are advised to be respectful of private property. Gas, food services and lodging will be limited and visitors are advised to prepare accordingly.

When the island opens, ferries from Swan Quarter and Cedar Island will operate on regular schedules and tolls will apply to these routes.

The Hatteras to Ocracoke-Silver Lake ferry will run from 6 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and the Ocracoke-Silver Lake to Hatteras will run 8:45 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. Ferries between Hatteras and Silver Lake will run until N.C. 12 on Ocracoke has reopened, which may be Dec. 6.

The Nov. 17-18 nor’easter delayed Friday’s planned Nov. 22 reopening of N.C. 12 on Ocracoke. When it opens, the regular Hatteras to Ocracoke (called the South Dock) will resume and the Hatteras to Silver Lake runs will cease.  Be aware that the long runs into the village are subject to cancellations if the weather is too bad. N.C. 12 has been closed since Dorian hit and breached the dunes.

Ferry operations are still suspended on NCDOT’s Hatteras to Ocracoke South Dock route but will resume when N.C. 12 on Ocracoke can be reopened, which may be Dec. 6.

National Park Service

The National Park Service reopened all oceanside and soundside beach areas Friday but the campground will not open until next spring. The park service visitor center and associated restrooms will not be available as they were damaged during the storm.

The Ocracoke Day Use Area, or Lifeguard Beach, and its parking lot will not be accessible because it is being used for debris staging. The Park Service village parking lot is not currently usable for boats and trailers. Park Service boat ramps and docks suffered some damage, but they are usable. The Ocracoke lighthouse grounds will be open, but the lightkeeper’s quarters were badly flooded.

What’s open now

Many Ocracoke businesses have reopened after Hurricane Dorian.  Here’s an update:

Lodging:
The Anchorage Inn, Berkley Manor Suites, Bluff Shoal Motel, Blue Heron Vacations, the Castle Bed & Breakfast & Courtyard Villas, Ocracoke Island Realty, Ocracoke’s Lightship Realty LLC, Ocracoke Harbor Inn, Pam’s Pelican B&B and Pony Island Motel & Cottages are all open for business.

Food & Drink:

• Back Porch: Take Out. Text orders to 252-928-6401 by 3 p.m., pickup is at 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. 252-928-6401. Cocktails, beer and appetizers served from 5- to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
• Plum Pointe Kitchen inside 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: 5-9 p.m. daily, 252-928-7586.
• Sorella’s Pizza & Pasta: 5-9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, 252-928-7777.
• 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: 5-9 p.m. daily. 252-928-2337.
• Zillie’s is open 4-8:30 p.m. daily, 252-928-9306.
• Helios Hideaway will open next month.
• The Ocracoke Variety Store and ABC Store are open.
• Ocracoke Cigars: 1 -7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 972-814-0886.

Shopping
Ride the Wind Surf Shop will open Nov. 22,10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Tuesday through Saturday. Opening Thanksgiving week are Island Artworks, Kitty Hawk Kites, Bella Fiore, Books to be Red, Down Creek Gallery, Over the Moon and Village Craftsman.

Fishing
Drumstick Sportfishing, Dream Girl Sportfishing, Gecko Sportfishing and Tradewinds Tackle.

Services:
Angie’s Gym, Ann Ehringhaus (wedding minister), Yoga with Amy/Deep Blue Bodywork & Massage, Beach Ride Rentals, Harrell & Associates, Island Mobile Medical Care, OBX Rentals and Shuttle Services, Ocean Atlantic Event Rentals, Ocracoke Observer, Ocracoke Current, Ocracoke Alive, Ocracoke Island Yoga and Stillwater Spa & Wellness.

Opening Spring 2020 

Hotels
Blackbeard’s Lodge, Cove Bed & Breakfast will open in March; Captain’s Landing Waterfront Inn office is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to take reservations, leave a message;  Oscar’s B&B and Sand Dollar Motel in January; Harborside Motel and Gift Shop, Silver Lake Motel, Edwards of Ocracoke Cottages  in March; Teeter’s Campground March 1; and Crew’s Inn B&B in April.

Restaurants
Ocracoke Oyster Co. will open March 1; Back Porch Lunchbox, Dajio and Eduardo’s will open early March; Ocracoke Fudge & Ice Cream Shop mid-March; Jason’s Restaurant and Slushy Stand in March; Jolly Roger Restaurant & Marina, Ocracoke Coffee Co. April 1;  Flying Melon, Sweet Tooth and Fig Tree Bakery & Deli, Gaffer’s and Pony Island Restaurant in April; Graceful Bakery and Howard’s Pub in early spring; and SmacNally’s in the spring.

Shops
The Community Store, Harborside Gift Shop, Mermaid’s Folly, Ocracoke Preservation Museum & Gift Shop, Ocracoke Seafood Co., Ocracoke Island Trading Co. and the Sunglass Shop will open in the spring.

Recreation
Native Parasail, Ocracoke Island Golf Carts, Rascal Charter Boats and Wheelie Fun Golf Carts will open in the spring. Anchorage Marina will open March 15.

Special Events
The Oyster Roast is canceled for 2019 but most events on Ocracoke Island, including Ocracoke Preservation Society’s Art Auction in January, will take place as usual.

Events scheduled in 2020 include the following:

• OPS Art Auction Fundraiser Jan. 25
• Waterfowl Festival April 18
• Portsmouth Island Homecoming April 25
• Ocracoke 5k/10K Race April 25
• Ocracoke Half Marathon April 26
• British Cemetery Ceremony May 8
• OVFD Fireman’s Ball May 23
• Ocrafolk Festival June 5-7
• Women’s Arm Wrestling June 11
• Independence Day Celebration and Fireworks July 3-5
• Fig Festival Aug. 7-8
• Health Center Seafood Festival Sept. 5
• Ocrafolk School Oct. 18-23
• Blackbeard’s Pirate Jamboree Oct. 29-Nov. 1
• Festival Latino de Ocracoke Nov. 6-8
• Parade of Boats Nov. 28
• Oyster Roast TBA

Entertainment
Deepwater Theater: Dingbatter’s Guide to Ocracoke, Season 2, is on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Molasses Creek Band in concert. Both shows are at 8 p.m. from June to September. Coyote Den is also open.

Resources for travelers

• Ocracoke Island’s visitor website, 252-928-6711.
• North Carolina Department of Transportation website for status and schedule of all ferries to and from the island.
• Hyde County information, 252-475-5655.

This story is provided courtesy of the Island Free Press, a digital newspaper covering Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Free Press to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast. 

Ocracoke Island will reopen to visitors 5 a.m. Dec. 2, Hyde County officials announced Thursday.

After the evacuation order in place since Sept. 4 is lifted, visitors will be immediately allowed to access Ocracoke but should know that there is limited lodging accommodations, food service, gas availability and other services normally available.

Ferry operations will return to the paid reservation system normally in place. Construction and debris removal will continue but visitors and residents should be aware of any obstacles while on the island.

Because of the damage caused by the nor’easter last weekend, repair work to N.C. 12 is expected to take at least two more weeks to complete, prompting the Ocracoke Deputy Control Group, which is composed of island officials who advise county commissioners on actions related to storms and met Wednesday, to change their recommendation to lift the evacuation order from Nov. 22 or following the reopening of N.C. 12. The control group decided that reentry should not hinge on the completion of N.C. 12 and recommended to the board of commissioners that the evacuation order for visitors be lifted Dec. 2 regardless of any other setbacks.

County commissioners reviewed the recommendation during the continuation of the board’s recessed special meeting Wednesday and voted 4-1 to lift the Ocracoke visitor evacuation at 5 a.m. Dec. 2.

Medical patients can expect delays and extended transport times until N.C. 12 is repaired.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore announced Thursday that while all ocean and soundside beaches will be open to visitors once the evacuation is listed, the visitor center and associated restrooms that were damaged during Hurricane Dorian are closed until further notice. Visitors interested in beach driving may get an off-road vehicle permit online at recreation.gov or obtain a permit at the Hatteras Island or Bodie Island visitor centers.

Ocracoke Lighthouse grounds and the seashore boat ramp parking area and boat ramps are open but, because of continued debris staging, the Ocracoke Beach Access and boardwalk are not open. The Ocracoke Campground will not reopen until next spring.

The Hyde County Board of Commissioners have agreed to accept a $600,000 state grant for temporary housing and other assistance for Hurricane Dorian survivors.

The action came during a special meeting Monday in the county government center called to consider reopening Ocracoke Island to visitors, but the board postponed a decision until 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Ocracoke Observer reported.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s office announced Wednesday the county board’s decision regarding the first installment of state assistance for Hyde County since the September storm.

“Hurricane Dorian caused significant destruction on Ocracoke Island, and these state funds will help those left without a home,” Cooper said in a statement. “We remain committed to rebuilding stronger and smarter and supporting those left in Hurricane Dorian’s aftermath with this important step.”

The grant will provide rental assistance and travel trailers to meet temporary housing needs, as well as professional project management assistance to the county to aid in rebuilding and recovery after Hurricane Dorian, the governor’s office said.

“We are grateful for this state assistance as our community tries to rebuild after the storm,” said Hyde County Manager Kris Noble. “We still have many displaced residents, and these funds for temporary housing and increased capacity in county government are critical to our recovery.”

Earlier this week, Cooper signed into law House Bill 200, which includes other recovery funds for Hyde County, including $1.7 million for repairs to the Ocracoke School. Additionally, $1.8 million will go to the Office of State Budget and Management to provide a directed grant to Hyde County for construction of a pump station and related watershed restoration infrastructure for the Lake Mattamuskeet watershed.

Update: Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed into law House Bill 200.

Copublished with Carolina Public Press

RALEIGH — The state House and Senate approved Thursday $180 million in disaster recovery funding along with an array of policy changes as the General Assembly wrapped up work for the year.

The storm recovery bill was hammered out by House and Senate negotiators who dialed back some of what the House approved but left in place a significant boost to the state’s Dorian recovery efforts.

The two chambers initially agreed for the need for about $122 million in state funds needed to match federal disaster aid for Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, and Dorian and Tropical Storm Michael. Without the additional funds, accounts providing the 25% state share for debris removal, infrastructure repair and other work were expected to run dry by the end of the month.

Everything beyond that was part of an ongoing negotiation until a deal was locked down on Wednesday.

The final version of the bill, which passed both House and Senate with only one dissenting vote, includes $1.7 million for Ocracoke School repairs, money for flood control around Lake Mattamuskeet and additional state help for local governments to speed up Dorian recovery.

Rep. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, said the bill marks an important step in the journey back from disaster.

“Ocracoke has a long road to recovery, and this will be instrumental in that recovery,” he said.

The bill’s passage came as a relief to Ocracoke residents as they prepare for yet another weekend of high winds and heavy swells.

Peter Vankevich, co-publisher of the Ocracoke Observer, said there’s relief the bill has passed but also an immediate worry that some of the progress on the island’s roads could be set back if the storm forecast for this weekend is bad enough. It could slow the final bit of progress needed to reopen N.C. 12.

“You get two days of 30-knot winds and a lot can happen here, he said.

Vankevich was one of several who greeted Ocracoke resident Kelley Shinn when she returned home Thursday after visiting Raleigh to take the island’s case directly to legislators. Shinn met with Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, and joined a group of other Ocracoke supporters outside the Legislative Building Wednesday to raise awareness about the island’s needs.

Shinn said she was glad to see the funding in the bill was similar to the higher House levels, compared to the Senate version, and included the key items for Ocracoke and Hyde County. Residents will want to dig into the details on the funding and what programs and services it will go for, she said.

“I think we are ever hopeful, but still cautious,” Shinn said. Transparency, she said, will be important at all levels.

Ninth-generation Ocracoke resident Trudy Austin agreed and said she was confident Gov. Roy Cooper, who visited the island shortly after the disaster, will sign the bill.

Austin said Shinn’s trip provided inspiration in that people are listening.

“The island’s pretty excited about what she did, going there and standing up for us,” Austin said.

Recovery on the island will continue to depend on a mix of state and federal aid. Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected the governor’s request for federal Individual Assistance, saying the disaster had not reached necessary damage thresholds. A program to provide state individual assistance grants to fill that gap is expected to begin soon, said Keith Acree, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety. Acree said individuals who did not qualify for help through a Small Business Administration grant program would be able to apply for the individual assistance grants.

The state is also in the process of finalizing a $600,000 grant to Hyde County. Half of the funds will go to rental assistance and for the purchase of 35 travel trailers for temporary housing. The other half will go for project management assistance for countywide recovery programs.

Resiliency planning

The bill contains some of the House version’s resiliency initiatives along with policy revisions clarifying the role and authority for the recently created state Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

It leaves out proposed funding aimed specifically at resiliency planning for the state’s 20 coastal counties. Also on hold is a $32 million update to the state’s topographic mapping program and a $5 million appropriation for  buyouts of hog farms in the 100-year floodplain.

Bill co-sponsor McGrady said he was surprised that Senate negotiators agreed to as much as they did, considering the Senate version focused almost solely on the needed matching funds. McGrady said he had been promised that the buyout funds and resiliency initiatives would be up for further discussion when the legislature returns in January to work on additional recovery legislation.

Other policy provisions in the bill include additional flexibility for local governments to allow them to combine costs and projects and reallocate funds from individual storms.

The bill also implements a legislative review panel’s recommendation for new state systems, responsibilities and oversight for disaster recovery under the Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

A provision in the bill giving the legislature explicit authority to determine the distribution of money from legal settlements drew a sharply worded statement from the governor’s office just before the vote on the bill that said the provision was an attempt to get around a court case regarding funds from the Volkswagen emissions testing fraud settlement.

The bill “uses disaster victims as political pawns,” Governor’s Office spokesperson Megan Thorpe said in the statement.

Sen. Bill Rabon, R-New Brunswick, responded in a statement that the governor had his facts wrong and the provision “simply re-affirms existing state law.”

The statement from the governor’s office did not contain an explicit veto threat and McGrady told House members that he understood that although the governor objected to the specific provision, he supported the recovery bill.

Also on Thursday, both chambers passed separate Department of Transportation funding and oversight bills covering recent outlays for disaster spending and funding some resiliency work and planning studies.

The spending includes $2 million for work expanding living shorelines around critical transportation infrastructure.

Funding highlights for House Bill 200 include the following:

• $70,812,336 to the Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund to provide state match for Florence federal disaster assistance programs.
• $11,197,013 for state match for Hurricane Matthew related federal disaster assistance programs.
• $4,176,245 for state match for Hurricane Matthew related federal disaster assistance programs.
• $17,800,000 for state match for Hurricane Dorian-related federal disaster assistance programs and similar state assistance that may supplement federal assistance or cover housing repairs and rehabilitation for those who do not qualify for federal assistance.
• $17,600,000 for the state match for additional federal funds for the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
• $5 million to replenish the state’s Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund for future storms.
• $5 million for expansion of flood-mitigation studies
• $4.8 million for water and breach level monitoring systems for 1,510 high- and intermediate-risk dams.
• $15 million to the state Office of Recovery and Resiliency, including $10 million for a bridge loan program for local governments affected by Matthew, Michael, Florence or Dorian to kickstart FEMA and Hazard Mitigation Grant projects and $5 million in grants to local governments for Dorian disaster recovery.
• $15 million for Golden LEAF grants for infrastructure repair.
• $5 million for stream debris removal.
• $5.2 million for repairs to storm damage at Elizabeth City State University.
• $1.7 million for repairs at the Ocracoke School.
• $1.8 million to Hyde County for a pump station at Lake Mattamuskeet.
• $50,000 for restoration work at Coastal Reserve sites damaged during Dorian.

From an Island Free Press report

Hyde County commissioners, responding to a recommendation Monday from the Ocracoke emergency operations control group, have agreed to lift the evacuation order in place for the island effective Nov. 22, or immediately following the reopening of N.C. 12, which is expected to reopen the same day.

The evacuation order has been in place since Sept. 4, ahead of Dorian’s arrival.

The control group had previously identified two prerequisites to lifting the order, the initial pass of debris removal, which was completed Nov. 1, and the reopening of N.C. 12 for all vehicles.

After the evacuation order is lifted, visitors will be immediately allowed to access Ocracoke.

Ferry operations will return to the paid reservation system normally in place. Reconstruction and debris removal will continue to take place for the foreseeable future. Visitors are advised to be aware of any obstacles while on the island. In addition, visitors should be aware of limited accommodations, food service, gas availability and other services normally available.

Hyde County commissioners are set to meet at 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Government Center in Swan Quarter and the Community Center in Ocracoke for the purpose of taking public comment and discussing reentry and recovery.

RALEIGH – Legislation that would provide additional state disaster aid for Ocracoke Islanders and other communities damaged by Hurricane Dorian as well as replenish the pool of state money used to match hundreds of millions of dollars in federal disaster relief stalled this week in the waning hours of this year’s legislative session.

The state House and Senate each passed competing bills that will now have to be worked out by a conference committee.

On Wednesday night, the House passed a $280 million package that included additional state aid, state matching funds for federal assistance and what supporters called a policy “pivot” toward a more resilience-based approach. Representatives said the new approach was necessary in light of the recent string of major storms and the likelihood of that trend continuing.

On Thursday, the Senate responded with a completely different bill that stripped out the policy changes and additional state aid provisions. The Senate bill includes both the required state funds to match federal aid for past storms

Both the House and Senate bills include $30 million for matches required by the state Department of Transportation.

Both chambers appointed a conference committee to work out the differences before adjourning until Nov. 13, when the legislature is scheduled to return for a brief session to take up congressional redistricting. Under rules worked out for the November session, House and Senate leaders have a narrow set of criteria for taking up new legislation, but left open the option to take up conference reports to make sure they can move the disaster recovery package and any other must-pass legislation.

North Carolina Emergency Management officials have estimated that without legislative action the state could run out of matching funds for some storm recovery efforts before the end of November.

After the November session, legislators aren’t scheduled to return to Raleigh until Jan. 14, 2020.

Reprinted from the Ocracoke Observer

Kids selling lemonade is part of summer Americana. Sometimes, one of those lemonade stands makes the news. This is one of them, thanks to the diligence of 6-year old Lilly Anderson, a first-grader at Tiller School in Beaufort.

Lilly’s parents, Rusty and Kim Anderson of Morehead City, were saddened by the devastation that Hurricane Dorian wrought on Ocracoke. Last year, they went through a similar experience when Hurricane Florence struck their area. They are long-time visitors to the island and Lilly has been visiting since she was an infant. When told of the flooding, she said she wanted to help the school buy books, crayons and pencils because she loves books and loves to read.

The family came up with a plan.

Lilly’s older sister, Sarah, now a student at NC State, used to sell lemonade when she was a child. Maybe Lilly could do the same and donate the proceeds to the school.

The family set up a cart and signs for Ocracoke School donations to sell lemonade, water and lollipops at a friend’s house where Sarah once sold her lemonade. This location was perfect for a huge number of walk-bys: It was about a block away from the North Carolina Seafood Festival, an annual event the first weekend in October in Morehead City that attracts about 200,000 visitors.

In its 33rd year, the festival has a tradition of the Blessing of the Fleet of the commercial fishing boats, and the proceeds are shared with community organizations who donate their efforts to the event. Last year, the popular event was canceled due the damage caused by Hurricane Florence.

“We thought Lilly would do it for a couple of hours and maybe she could raise $100,” said Rusty.

She amazed her parents by going from 11:30 in the morning until 10:30 p.m.

“You know, she never asked if she could she quit,” he said. “One of our friends fixed some chicken nuggets so she would sit there and munch on them in between selling and stuff.”

In the afternoon, Rusty posted a photo of Lilly at the lemonade stand and a little message about what she was doing on his business Facebook page, Anderson Plumbing and Sewer.

“People started sharing and liking it and asking how they could donate,” he said. “And then I reached out to some of the vendors and people that we do business with that may not have seen the post and told them what she was doing. And then they offered to donate, and then they told people about it and they donated. So it just kind of morphed.”

In the end, Lilly collected an amazing $8,718.90.

Rusty is a long-time friend of islander Norman Miller and has done plumbing jobs for him over the years and had another scheduled last Thursday. He contacted the school and asked Principal Leslie Cole if he could take Lilly that day to school and deliver the donation, to which Cole enthusiastically agreed to. Mother Kim had a poster-sized copy of the check made for a photo op.

The Anderson family, which included Lilly’s older brother, Tyler, stepped off the Cedar Island ferry that morning and went to the nearby North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), one of the three locations the school is using while the school is repaired. They were greeted by Cole and Assistant Principal Mary McKnight. Several of the upperclassmen passed by and thanked Lilly for her great work.

From there, the family and school officials headed to Ocracoke Child Care on Old Beach Road where the Pre-K through second grade are holding classes. Lilly was greeted and thanked by the students. The first-grade students wrote individual thank you letters and handed them to her as new friendships emerged.

When she was visiting with the first graders, the intercom came on. Hyde County Superintendent of Schools Steve Basnight was patched in from the mainland.

“I’m sorry I can’t be there to thank you personally; to say how wonderful your gift is for all of us,” he said. “But I just couldn’t let the day go by without talking to you.”

It was a visit that the shy 6-year-old will probably never forget and she is proud of what she did to help the school.

“Lily keeps reading over and over the nice letters the students wrote,” said her proud dad on Saturday.

Like many others, Ocracoke School suffered substantial damage due to the historical flooding and it will not reopen for quite some time. In addition to this donation, the school has received other contributions.

Those wishing to make a financial contribution, can write a check to payable to Ocracoke School and mail it to: Hyde County Schools, Ocracoke School Donation, P.O. Box 217, Swan Quarter, N.C. 27885.

RALEIGH — Federal Emergency Management Agency approved Gov. Roy Cooper’s request to add 12 more counties to those eligible to receive reimbursements for Hurricane Dorian response and recovery expenses his office announced Friday.

The addition of Beaufort, Camden, Columbus, Greene, Hoke, Lenoir, Onslow, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson and Wayne counties brings the total to 26 North Carolina counties designated for Public Assistance as part of the Hurricane Dorian major disaster declaration.

The dozen counties join Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Hyde, Jones, New Hanover, Pamlico, Pender, Sampson, Tyrrell, and Washington counties, which were included in President Trump’s initial major disaster declaration on Oct. 4, in FEMA Public Assistance funding being available to local governments, state agencies and certain private nonprofits.

“This approval means more towns and counties will be able to use federal funds to cover their storm response and clean-up costs so Dorian will not put their local budgets in a bind,” said Cooper in a statement.

Public Assistance is a cost-sharing program to reimburse eligible disaster-related debris removal, emergency protective measures and the repair or restoration of public facilities such as roads, bridges, water control facilities, buildings, equipment, public utilities, parks and recreational facilities.

Cooper may request additional counties be added to the Public Assistance declaration as more information is gathered.

The U.S. Small Business Administration Wednesday granted Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for a disaster declaration for counties that suffered damage from Hurricane Dorian, making additional assistance available to residents there.

“The Small Business Administration’s approval of North Carolina’s disaster request is an important step to getting more resources to the people impacted by Hurricane Dorian,” Cooper said in a statement.

The SBA granted a disaster declaration for Carteret, Dare, Hyde and New Hanover and the contiguous counties of Beaufort, Brunswick, Craven, Currituck, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Tyrrell and Washington, allowing affected residents to apply for low-interest SBA disaster loans.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application at DisasterLoan.sba.gov.

Businesses and individuals may also obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or 1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Following this approval, the governor intends to sign a state disaster declaration, his office said. The action allows for state-funded grants to people who don’t meet the qualifications for an SBA loan. A state disaster declaration is anticipated later this week, Cooper’s office said.

The SBA disaster request and state disaster declaration follow the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s denial Oct. 8 of North Carolina’s request for Individual Assistance.

Published in partnership with Carolina Public Press

Gov. Roy Cooper and members of the state’s congressional delegation say they will continue to press the case for assistance for individual victims of Hurricane Dorian after the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s recent decision to deny the state’s request.

State officials received a letter Tuesday saying the damage from Hurricane Dorian did not meet the threshold for the additional aid.

In a letter to Cooper announcing the decision on Tuesday, FEMA Associate Administrator for the Office of Response Jeff Byard said “the impact to the individuals and households from this event is not of such severity and magnitude to warrant the designation of Individual Assistance under FEMA-444-Dr.”

Individual Assistance is a form of disaster aid that provides financial help and services for people who are unable to meet their needs through other means. The funds are typically used for home repairs and making residences livable, with a $33,000 limit per residence per year. It can also cover the costs of temporary housing, medical needs, lost clothing and moving and storage expenses.

North Carolina’s request for Individual Assistance was sent to FEMA Sept. 21 and covered Hyde, Dare, Carteret and New Hanover counties where a state assessment showed damage exceeded thresholds for the additional assistance.

Tuesday’s decision doesn’t affect other FEMA assistance already in the pipeline.

Last week, President Trump signed off on the state’s prior request for Public Assistance, a category of disaster aid that covers public buildings, road and infrastructure cleanup and repair.

In all, 14 counties will receive some form of assistance. They include Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Hyde, Jones, New Hanover, Pamlico, Pender, Sampson, Tyrrell, and Washington counties. Cooper recently requested that 12 more counties — Beaufort, Camden, Columbus, Greene, Hoke, Lenoir, Onslow, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson and Wayne — be added to the list. Additional counties could be added as damage assessments are completed.

On hard-hit Ocracoke Island, where hundreds of residents are contemplating a long fall and winter rebuilding homes and businesses, the news of FEMA’s decision spread quickly Tuesday over social media.

Tom Pahl, Ocracoke’s representative on the Hyde County Board of Commissioners, said he and other Hyde County officials spent much of Wednesday in meetings with state and federal officials to talk about next steps in the wake of the decision.

He said residents are disappointed and mystified over FEMA’s decision.

“You look around the village and you see how many people have been displaced and how many houses are damaged. It’s just hard for us to comprehend how FEMA could look at that and see it in any way similar to how we’re looking at it and determine that it wasn’t enough damage for individual assistance,” he said.

Pahl said the latest estimates are that about 400 of the roughly 1,000 residents on the island have been displaced by the storm. Their homes are either destroyed or the renovation and repair work so extensive that they have to move out until work is finished.

It doesn’t make sense that a village could have 40% its population displaced and yet not be damaged enough for Individual Assistance, Pahl said.

According to the governor’s request, an initial damage assessment listed 2,001 homes affected by the storm with 56 properties destroyed and 112 with major damage.

Although Hyde County tops the list for the most damaged homes, Carteret County, where a series of tornadoes spawned by the storm damaged structures, had 38 homes destroyed, the highest number of any county.

The state has 30 days to appeal FEMA’s decision.

Cooper spokesperson Ford Porter said Wednesday morning that the governor would continue to press for federal aid and would review state options as well.

“This is disappointing news for families who lost everything in Hurricane Dorian and still need help,” Porter said. “The Governor will continue to work with our federal and state partners and North Carolina’s congressional delegation to determine a path forward to deliver assistance to those who need it.”

Porter said the governor wants any solution to get aid to the communities quickly.

State Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry was in Washington, D.C., Wednesday reviewing recovery issues with the state’s congressional delegation.

A spokesperson for Sen. Richard Burr confirmed that Sprayberry met with  Burr’s staff on Wednesday. Sen. Thom Tillis did not respond to a request for comment.

Newly elected Congressman Greg Murphy, whose 3^rd District includes most of the affected counties, also said time is important.

“I am disappointed to hear that Individual Assistance for Hurricane Dorian has been denied under the requirements set forth in the 1987 Stafford Act,” Murphy said. “That said, we are committed to working with the Governor to explore all avenues, either appeal or seeking a state disaster declaration, that will provide relief to those in need as quickly as possible.”

While the options for federal assistance are reviewed, the prospect for additional assistance from the state could speed up as a result of the FEMA decision.

On Wednesday, Rep. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, told OBX Today that he wants to see legislative action.

“I will be working at the state level to find funding to help the folks that are in need,” Hanig said.

The legislature typically waits until damage assessments are mostly complete before announcing a session aimed at disaster relief, but there are no hard and fast rules for the timing.

The 2016 special session after Hurricane Matthew took place Dec. 12 and the 2018 Hurricane Florence special session took place Oct. 2.

Last month, legislators said it was too soon after the event to develop legislation in response to the storm, but a recent disaster funding bill covering past hurricanes included an additional $5 million appropriation that could be applied toward Hurricane Dorian expenses.

From an OBX Today report

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied North Carolina’s application to provide assistance to individuals in Dare, Hyde, Carteret and New Hanover counties who suffered losses due to Hurricane Dorian, OBX Today reported Wednesday.

“Based on our review of all the information available, including the results of joint federal, state, and local government Preliminary Damage Assessments it has been determined that the impact to individuals and households from this event is not of such severity and magnitude to warrant the designation of Individual Assistance,” said Jeff Byard, Associate Administrator for FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery in a letter sent Tuesday to Gov. Roy Cooper.

Byard was nominated by President Trump to become the new administrator of FEMA, but CNN reported last month that the White House was going to withdraw his nomination over a personal issue.

Sixth District state Rep. Bobby Hanig of Currituck County confirmed to OBX Today Wednesday morning that the request had been denied. A copy of the letter began circulating on Facebook late Tuesday.

“I will be working at the state level to find funding to help the folks that are in need,” Hanig said.

The letter said Cooper has 30 days to appeal the ruling with FEMA’s Region IV office in Atlanta.

“This is disappointing news for families who lost everything in Hurricane Dorian and still need help,” said Ford Porter, spokesperson for  Cooper. “The Governor will continue to work with our federal and state partners and North Carolina’s congressional delegation to determine a path forward to deliver assistance to those who need it.”

On Friday, FEMA approved providing reimbursement to local governments for the costs of debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures and the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged publicly owned facilities. Certain private nonprofit organizations can also be eligible for reimbursement

Local officials expressed concerns early on that FEMA’s damage threshold may not be met from the storm that made landfall on Hatteras Island Sept. 6.

Cooper had requested a federal disaster declaration and FEMA public assistance for 14 North Carolina counties. He later asked FEMA to expand public assistance to 12 additional counties in eastern North Carolina.

MOREHEAD CITY – Closed for a month due to damage Caused by Hurricane Dorian in early September, the Currituck Banks Reserve site near Corolla reopened Monday to visitors, making seven of the 10 North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve sites to have reopened after the storm.

In addition to Currituck Banks Reserve, other sites open are the Emily and Richardson Preyer Buckridge Reserve near Columbia, Permuda Island Reserve near Topsail Island, Zeke’s Island Reserve near Kure Beach, Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, Masonboro Island Reserve near Wilmington, and Bird Island Reserve near Sunset Beach.

Under the supervision of the Department of Environmental Quality, officials recommend visitors exercise caution while visiting sites and be aware of the risk of potentially hazardous conditions associated with storm damage.

Visitors should refrain from disturbing the grounded vessels reported to be on several reserve sites to protect personal safety and respect vessel owners’ personal property while removal efforts are underway.

The three sites that continue to be closed to visitors to protect public safety until immediate hazards are addressed include Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve in Kitty Hawk, Buxton Woods Reserve on Hatteras Island and Bald Head Woods Reserve on Bald Head Island.

The North Caorlina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve protects natural areas for education, research and compatible recreation. Since its creation in 1989, the program has preserved more than 44,000 acres of unique coastal environments at 10 sites along the coast.

Updates will be posted on the Coastal Reserve’s website and on social media.

President Trump approved Friday Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for a major disaster declaration for 14 eastern North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Dorian.

The approval allows Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Hyde, Jones, New Hanover, Pamlico, Pender, Sampson, Tyrrell and Washington to receive support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance program, providing reimbursement to local governments for costs of debris removal, lifesaving emergency protective measures and the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged publicly owned facilities. Certain private nonprofit organizations can also be eligible for reimbursement.

“North Carolina’s coastal communities – particularly Ocracoke and those on the Outer Banks – were hit hard by Hurricane Dorian and it’s critical that they have access to FEMA Public Assistance and the federal resources necessary to recover. This is a positive step and we continue to urge our federal partners and North Carolina’s congressional delegation to work to expedite approval of our request for Individual Assistance for families whose homes were destroyed as well,” Cooper said in a statement.

North Carolina requested public assistance Sept. 13. Cooper also requested on Sept 21 a major disaster declaration for individual assistance, which if approved, would provide grants to residents who suffered damage from Dorian and could open the door to additional FEMA recovery programs, like temporary housing.

The individual assistance request remains under review and state officials have urged federal agencies and North Carolina’s congressional delegation to work to expediate federal approval.

Cooper and state officials surveyed the recovery process underway on Ocracoke Island Thursday. Cooper’s office said Ocracoke faces unique challenges and the state continues to provide critical support services to the island including the following:

• A team of emergency managers to support Hyde County officials in coordinating response and recovery efforts.
• Airlift of food, water and emergency personnel to island.
• Two Urban Search and Rescue task forces that provided the initial search of island, helped evacuate injured and assisted with donations and supply management and other tasks in days following the storm.
• Emergency fuel supplies and repairs to get fuel service available.
• Damage assessment teams to document the need for federal help.
• N.C. Office of Emergency Medical Services is providing a mobile medical clinic staffed by physician and eight-person medical team.
• Mental health counselors who have made hundreds of contacts with residents in need.
• Food preparation and feeding by volunteer organizations with more than 10,000 meals served.
• Laundry and shower units from Baptists on Mission.
• National Guard cleared roads and removed boats from roadways.
• Four Alcohol Law Enforcement agents assisting Hyde County Sheriff’s Department in addition to other counties sheriff’s deputies.
• Cleanup and disposal of dead fish and marine life by N.C. National Guard.
• National Guard personnel and equipment to assist with transportation and donations management.
• 50 portable toilets and 32 handwashing stations.
• Several volunteer groups supported by the state are at work on the island mucking out houses.
• N.C. Department of Insurance working with insurers to remove flooded vehicles from island.
• Distribution of relief supplies from fire department being managed by local government, with help from volunteer agencies and local volunteers.
• A central receiving and distribution point has been established on the mainland to manage the flow of supplies and donated goods onto the island.
• The Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Health Service Regulation will leave and maintain the mobile disaster hospital assets while the Ocracoke health center is being repaired.
• N.C. Department of Transportation and the Ferry Division are maintaining additional ferry routes between Hatteras and Ocracoke-Silver Lake to address public concerns.

Learn More

• Support for Ocracoke’s recovery

A restaurant in Raleigh is hosting a special seafood dinner to help raise funds for repairs to the last fish house on the island, which was flooded during last month’s Hurricane Dorian.

Ocracoke Seafood Co. a base of operations for more than 30 watermen from Ocracoke and nearby coastal communities, is owned by the Ocracoke Foundation, a nonprofit for the benefit of area watermen who manage the business.

Locals Oyster Bar in Transfer Co. Food Hall in Raleigh is hosting a special four-course dinner 5 p.m. Oct. 9, with proceeds marked for Ocracoke Foundation’s efforts to repair flood damage at Ocracoke Seafood.

Tickets are $60 per person for dinner only, or $90 each for dinner with drink pairings. The dinner will end with island-made Ocracoke Fig Cake. Tickets can be purchased on the website.

Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island has organized an auction with unique items from Down East and Ocracoke to benefit the fish house as well.Auction items and bid opportunities are online.

Other ways to support Ocracoke Seafood is to order the Ocracoke Platter through Oct. 9 at Locals Oyster Bar. The platter includes fried fish, shrimp, hush puppies, and slaw, and $10 of each platter sold will be donated to efforts to rebuild Ocracoke Seafood.

The fish house has been in jeopardy before when it was put up for sale. Watermen joined together in 2006 and with the aid of the community, area nonprofits, volunteers and state organizations the fish house was purchased, renovated and the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association formed.

OCRACOKE – Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division decided late Wednesday that the Hatteras-Ocracoke Silver Lake route will remain open.

The reversal, which came in response to public demand, came after the division announced Tuesday that service between Hatteras and Ocracoke-Silver Lake would be discontinued Thursday.

NCDOT also announced Wednesday that N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island will open Thursday to certain types of vehicles.

Ferries will travel from Hatteras to Ocracoke-Silver Lake at 6 .m. 11:15 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. and from Ocracoke-Silver Lake to Hatteras at 8:45 a.m., 2:30 p.m. 7:15 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

The Hatteras-Ocracoke Silver Lake route, open only to high ground-clearance vehicles, is highly susceptible to suspension during adverse weather conditions. Due to potential ramp damage at Silver Lake, all heavy loads must access Ocracoke via Swan Quarter or Cedar Island.

NCDOT opened N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island on Thursday to four-wheel drive vehicles rated at ¾ ton capacity or smaller, such as Ford F250, GM K2500 or Ram 2500. Trailers will not be allowed at this time. The Ferry Division will be running ferries from Hatteras to Ocracoke-South Dock at 6:15 a.m., 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 4:45 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and from Ocracoke-South Dock to Hatteras at 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Hyde County is only allowing residents, nonresident property owners, and authorized personnel to access Ocracoke Island. All motorists and pedestrians boarding an Ocracoke-bound ferry must meet the re-entry criteria or be given prior approval by the county. Ocracoke commuter pass owners whose vehicles were destroyed in the storm can bring their information and identification to the Ocracoke-Silver Lake ferry terminal between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for a new pass.

Reservations are not available on the Hatteras-Ocracoke South Dock route or the Hatteras-Ocracoke Silver Lake route. Vehicles will be loaded by the re-entry priority procedures established by Hyde County. Motorists should arrive 30 minutes before departure time.

Volunteer groups approved to access Ocracoke are encouraged to board the ferries without vehicles to leave as much deck space as possible for vehicles necessary for hurricane recovery services.

Reprinted from the Ocracoke Observer

Many talented musicians have stepped forward over the years to help those in need.  George Harrison and Ravi Shankar did in 1971 with their Madison Square Garden concerts for Bangladesh.

One of the most famous and successful was Live Aid in 1985, a world-wide effort that raised money and conscientiousness to the famine in Ethiopia. The concert has been immortalized in the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The musical trio Craicdown, in conjunction with the Carolina Theatre in Durham, has organized a benefit concert to support the Ocracoke community that was ravaged Sept. 6 when Hurricane Dorian struck the remote island.

The fundraising concert is at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, in the historic theatre’s Fletcher Hall. Tickets, $27.50, went on sale Tuesday and are available at the venue’s box office, at carolinatheatre.org and at Ticketmaster.com.

Proceeds from ticket sales will be given to the Outer Banks Community Foundation disaster relief campaign for Hatteras and Ocracoke Island.

Performers include Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys, Chatham Rabbits and Joseph Terrell and Libby Rodenbough of Mipso.

“We’re just really thrilled that we have a time open, that it wasn’t too far off,” said Rebecca Newton, the theater’s executive director.

Craicdown’s Rob Sharer came up with the idea for the concert after hearing from those on the island and seeing news reports on the damage the hurricane wrought. For several days, the island was without power and the water had to be boiled before drinking. Most homes, businesses and vehicles were badly damaged or destroyed when a seven-foot storm surge suddenly overtook the village after dawn.

“Friends of mine were in their upper stories, watching their yards, and their houses completely fill up with water,” Sharer said. “It was physically painful to watch. Livelihoods and homes and possessions getting destroyed in real time. It was almost like I could feel the water coming in my own house.”

In particular, he was concerned about a beautiful 1908 Steinway piano that Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro had on the first floor of their house on Sunset Drive that he is love with and plays every time he visits.

“I waited a day or so because I didn’t dare ask, and when I did, Marcy said it got wet and the keys are swelling together, so that might be it for the piano,” he recounted. “She sent some pictures, and I just started freaking out.

“The piano just seemed so emblematic of what was going on down there. You know, things that I love, were getting destroyed. And I wrote to her and I said, ‘Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to come down and bring you a dehumidifier, or anything like that?’ And she said, ‘Oh, sweetheart, just play some music.’

“What could that mean? That could mean lots of different things. I mean, just sending vibes out there. No, let’s do something more. So really, that was the genesis of this benefit concert.”

Sharer and the trio’s other two members, David DiGiuseppe and Jim Roberts, have a spiritual connection to the island. Craicdown has performed at the Ocrafolk Festival for the past 11 years. The festival, which began in 2000, takes place annually on the first full weekend in June. Craicdown has also given musical workshops at the school over the years.

“So, it really is like the spiritual home of the band,” Sharer said. “It’s our home away from home. We’ve written songs and made great friends out there. And it’s just a magical, enchanted place that I look forward to going to every year.

“The very thought that something terrible has happened to the place and to the people that we love so much, how could you not do something? So, this was thing that I thought I could do. You know, I can’t hold the waters back, but I can organize a concert.”

On the stage that night will be Jonathan Byrd, a seventh-generation Carolinian. He is a preacher’s son and sang “Amazing Grace” solo in church when he was a young boy. He has recorded many albums, with his most recent “Pickup Cowboy.” His songs are about strong characters, tough times and filled with powerful lyrical imagery.

The performers Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, Chatham Rabbits and Joseph Terrell and Libby Rodenbough of Mipso have all performed at the Ocrafolk Festival in the last several years.

Will Ridenour is the percussionist for Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, a high energy rhythmic dance band that can also do soothing story songs.

“Every time we go to Ocracoke, we’re just met with a really amazing community,” he said. ”And so, yeah. When I found out that they were hit hard by Hurricane Dorian, you know, the first thing you as a musician to think is ‘I want to put on a benefit because I to share my music to help raise money.’ So when Rob asked us, it was hands down, ‘Yes, right away.’”

Diali Cissokho (first name pronounced “jelly”), originally from Senegal, West Africa, is the band’s lead singer and master of the kora, a 21-string instrument. He has taught students about African music during arts week at Ocracoke school that takes place every spring for the past several years.

Chatham Rabbits are a husband and wife duo, Sarah Osborne McCombie and Austin McCombie. From Bynum in Chatham County, they took their name and music inspiration from the original Chatham Rabbits, a local mill string band of the early 20th century.

Joseph Terrell (guitar and vocals) and Libby Rodenbough (fiddle and vocals) are part of the music group Mipso. Defined as an indie Americana quartet, their music has been described as “full of wistful beauty, hopeful undercurrents, and panoramic soundscapes,” and combining classic folk-rock and modern alt-country sounds mingling easily with Appalachian tradition.

Also on stage will be Marcy Brenner, who with her husband Lou Castro, are the recording artists, Coyote. She is a former director of the Outer Banks Community Foundation. In addition to the piano casualty, their Coyote Den, located on the dock at the Community Square also suffered substantial damage.

Not listed officially as performers, it wouldn’t be surprising if Craicdown, in some fashion makes it to the stage.

If you cannot  attend and still want to support the musicians’ efforts, you can donate directly to the Outer Banks Community Foundation. In the donor information line, add Music Folk for Ocracoke.

Reprinted from Ocracoke Observer

A portion of the disaster declaration for public assistance on Ocracoke following devastating flooding by Hurricane Dorian Sept. 6 has been approved President Donald Trump.

Although Gov. Roy Cooper, in a return trip to Ocracoke Monday, told islanders gathered outside the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, that no Federal Emergency Management Agency public assistance request had been approved, newly elected U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy, in a visit to Ocracoke on Saturday, had said the declaration had been approved.

But he clarified in an email to the Ocracoke Observer Monday evening that President Trump had signed a portion of the public assistance request, which was the emergency declaration for immediate needs, such as state emergency services.

“That portion provides emergency protective measures limited to direct federal assistance under the Public Assistance program for Hyde County and other counties in North Carolina,” said Wayne King, Murphy’s senior adviser, in the email.

The email further stated:

“Cooper has requested the second part of public assistance and individual assistance and amended the request to add additional counties. Our office has spoken with the White House, FEMA officials, NC Emergency Management Director and Governor Cooper’s office. Dr. Murphy has been clear that this assistance is needed immediately to the people impacted by Hurricane Dorian.”

Cooper in a Sept. 13 letter asked the president to approve a request for public assistance to cover the cost of infrastructure repairs and debris removal for eastern North Carolina.

On Sept. 21, he asked for individual assistance, which would provide grants to residents who suffered damages from Dorian and could open the door to additional FEMA recovery programs, such as temporary housing.

Cooper told islanders gathered at the volunteer fire department Monday, that the FEMA regional office No. 4 is still processing the damage assessments.

“Once that’s done, they’ll ship them to Washington,” Cooper said. “The damage estimate has been sent in.”

He noted that long-term housing money doesn’t arrive from the federal government “for a long time” after disasters. “We’ll probably have to ask for matching assistance from the General Assembly.”

Several of Cooper’s cabinet members made the trip to the island Monday, including Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen, Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan, Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks, Emergency Management Director Michael Sprayberry, Department of Transportation Chief Operating Officer Bobby Lewis and Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Todd Hunt.

Cooper on Monday also signed Executive Order 108 to authorize the North Carolina Department of Transportation to remove Hurricane-related debris from public rights-of-way.

Murphy, who is a physician, said Saturday that he had been seen devastation firsthand from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the earthquake in Haiti.

Murphy had also noted on his Facebook page on Saturday that the public assistance declaration had been signed, but in the days following, that post was taken down.

Murphy, who won the special Sept. 10 election to fill the remaining two-year term of longtime Congressman Walter Jones, who died in February, was sworn in Sept. 17 to represent the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Ocracoke.

This story is provided courtesy of the Ocracoke Observer, a newspaper covering Ocracoke island. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Ocracoke Observer to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast.

Two weeks out from storms and high water, the Ocracoke air is thick with mosquitoes and the sound of heavy trucks hauling the insides of homes to a collection point on National Park Service land just outside the village.

Tom Pahl, the Hyde County commissioner who represents Ocracoke, said there’s a mix of feelings on the island. As the loss sinks in, there are a lot of heavy hearts, but the tremendous outpouring of help that followed the storm has lifted spirits.

“No lives were lost and nobody was injured, but still, people don’t have homes, some of the homes are going to end up having to be torn down, a lot of mementos and prize possessions are lost and it’s heartbreaking for people and it’s very unsettling,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re feeling very good about the overwhelming generosity we’ve benefited from. It’s amazing how much support we’ve gotten from our friends and family off the island.”

Pahl said debris removal was in full swing. Local and state officials, working closely with Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinators, have been able to move forward with debris removal work and other projects in anticipation of reimbursement after the president signs off on a major disaster declaration.

Gov. Roy Cooper filed a preliminary compilation of damages and an official request for the declaration Sept. 13. That request covers damages in Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Hyde, New Hanover, Pamlico, Pender, Sampson, Tyrell and Washington counties. Each of those counties reached the federal threshold for a disaster declaration just based on damage to transportation and electricity distribution infrastructure alone.

The initial estimate also includes about $10 million in costs for Emergency Management, the National Guard, state Department of Transportation, the Department of Insurance, Department of Health and Human Services and the State Emergency Response Team.

On Saturday, Cooper added Jones County to the list based on updated damage reports and amended the request to include individual assistance for residents in Carteret, Dare, Hyde and New Hanover counties.

Both Cooper and the state’s congressional legislation have called for quick action on the major disaster declaration.

Congressman-elect Greg Murphy toured heavily damaged Ocracoke Village Saturday and Cooper is headed back to the island Monday as residents await word of the pending boost in federal assistance.

Murphy, elected Sept. 10 to fill out the term of the late Walter B. Jones Jr., visited flooded out homes in the village and toured damage along N.C. 12 with National Parks Superintendent Dave Hallac.

He told a gathering of residents and recovery workers at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department that he would urge the White House and FEMA to move forward on the declaration and the Ocracoke Observer reported that before leaving the island Murphy said he had received word from the White House that President Trump had signed the public assistance declaration.

Pahl said the county has been able to press ahead with most recovery efforts despite the lack of a formal declaration and continues to coordinate with FEMA to make sure it’s following federal requirements. The county recently tweaked its debris removal contract at FEMA’s suggestion.

“I know FEMA’s involved and the state is involved and we’re going ahead with this work with full confidence that it’s FEMA-reimbursable, even if we don’t have the national-level declaration.”

In anticipation of further aid, county and state officials met Friday with small business owners on Ocracoke to discuss the disaster loan process and application requirements.

NCDOT will be awarding an emergency contract next week that aims to have hurricane-damaged NC12 open on Ocracoke Island by November 22: https://t.co/dUkOi4fpiO pic.twitter.com/BWsgw0OwTB

— NCDOT NC12 (@NCDOT_NC12) September 19, 2019

N.C. 12 repairs underway

NCDOT crews and contractors are reviewing bids for work along damaged portions of N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island, including construction of a sandbag wall, the first step in the long process of shoring up the dunes around the heavily damaged road.

Jerry Jennings, NCDOT Division 1 chief engineer, said crews will start using sand on site to fill sandbags while the department’s Ferry Division dredge Manteo is set up to pump sand from the old Hatteras Inlet to the work zones.

The target date for opening the road is Nov. 22, the weekend before Thanksgiving. But the road project, which includes replacement of about 1,000 feet of pavement, won’t be completed until April 2020.

Jennings said the area around the South Dock ferry station, including part of the staging loop for vehicles, sustained less damage than expected and that a contractor already working to fix erosion damage in the area is back on the job.

Although regular ferry service is suspended until the road is reopened, contractors are able to use the route through Hatteras Inlet to transport construction supplies, Jennings said. Other sections of N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island, including the often-overwashed S-Curves at Mirlo Beach and the nearby construction site for the so-called “jug-handle” bridge over Pamlico Sound sustained less damage than expected.

Pahl credited the Ferry Division’s decision to open a direct navigation route from Hatteras to Silver Lake as a big help for recovery efforts. Ferry Division officials said the route, which was opened within days of the storm, takes roughly two hours and 15 to 30 minutes and has created a key transportation route for residents, crews and supplies.

Pahl said it would have been more difficult to ramp up recovery efforts using only the routes connecting Ocracoke to Swan Quarter and Cedar Island.

School moves

Secondary students at the heavily damaged Ocracoke School got some welcome news that they at least have a new temporary home.

The board of directors for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching announced Friday that NCCAT’s Ocracoke campus would host the students through the end of the year.

NCCAT executive director M. Brock Womble said Hyde County Schools Superintendent Steve Basnight asked the center to help with a solution for the students.

In a statement Friday, Womble said the board voted unanimously to approve the plan. The organization has also set up a relief fund for its employees affected by the disaster.

“We feel like the most valuable thing NCCAT can do for Ocracoke School and Ocracoke Island is to be a resource to help them rebuild,” Womble said.

Plans continue for holding classes for younger students at other sites on the island.

About 75 Ocracoke middle and high school students got a much needed break on Friday, gathering at the ferry station for a ride across the sound to East Carteret High School and a weekend of events on the mainland hosted by the school and its booster club.

On Sunday, the group returned to the island with donated school supplies for all 175 students. Repairs on their school, damaged by 4 feet of storm surge, are expected to take more than a year.

Front page photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer

From the Ocracoke Observer

OCRACOKE — Hurricane Dorian relief workers here have offered new information on how people can help.

The Ocracoke Relief Team said it had seen an overwhelming response from individuals wanting to help rebuild the community. Because of the massive response, the team has turned to four experienced organizations with the resources to coordinate large volunteer forces.

If you would like to come to the island as a volunteer,  visit any of the following:

• Samaritan’s Purse
• Christian Aid Ministry
• North Carolina Baptists on Mission
• North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church Disaster Ministries, or disaster@nccumc.org.

If you are unable to volunteer with these organizations,  consider donating to the Outer Banks Community Foundation and indicate you would like your funds allocated to Ocracoke Disaster Relief.

If you have specific questions, unique offers of aid, or questions about donating supplies, contact the relief team at ocracokedisasterrelief@gmail.com.

“Thank you so much to everyone who has reached out to us when we need it most, our community appreciates it more than words can express,” the Ocracoke Relief Team said.

Also, Hyde County officials announced that a small business recovery team plans to present available tools and resources and meet with individual business owners at 1 p.m. Friday at the Community Center. Learn more.

RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper requested on Friday that President Trump issue a major disaster declaration for North Carolina counties affected earlier this month by Hurricane Dorian, a step toward getting federal assistance.

The request covered Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Hyde, New Hanover, Pamlico, Pender, Sampson, Tyrrell and Washington counties.

A major disaster declaration would trigger the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance program, providing supplemental federal grants for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures and the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged publicly owned facilities and the facilities of certain private nonprofit organizations.

Cooper’s request states that all minimum thresholds for damage estimates for indicated counties and the state to qualify for a declaration had been met. The threshold for the state is $14.3 million.

“Hurricane Dorian’s destruction disrupted life on North Carolina’s coast. These grants are designed to offer public assistance to get North Carolinians on the path to recovery,” Cooper said in a statement.

The program also provides assistance with hazard mitigation measures during the recovery process to protect damaged facilities from future storms.

The federal share of assistance is not less than 75% of the eligible cost.

BEAUFORT – The state’s environmental secretary and other officials from his agency assessed by air Wednesday the damage Hurricane Dorian inflicted on the Outer Banks earlier this month, a scene the secretary described as a call to action on coastal resiliency.

Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan, Steve Murphey, director of DEQ’s Division of Marine Fisheries, and Division of Coastal Management Director Braxton Davis left from Michael J. Smith Field, an airport in Beaufort, to fly over the hard-hit barrier islands.

“There was considerable damage along the coast where we saw a number of breaches changing the flow of water from the ocean into the inlets and sounds and fracturing the connecting land between the islands and the rest of the state,” Regan said following the flight. “Some of those breaches could become permanent inlets changing the ecological balance of our sounds.”

Regan added that he and the other officials saw the rebuilding efforts of the businesses and residents on Ocracoke and the North Carolina Department of Transportation working diligently to repair the washed-out roads.

“Some of the damage we saw caused by Dorian is a culmination of the beating the coast has taken from hurricanes Florence and Matthew, and a reminder that we have to work smarter and rebuild stronger to make our coast more adaptable to the changing climate,” he said.

Davis explained that from the air they were unable to see the full effect of the historic flooding on Ocracoke Island.

“But we were able to see firsthand numerous breaches along sections of Core Banks and Ocracoke Island – most of which formed as water was leaving Pamlico Sound,” he said. “We are working very closely with NCDOT to restore N.C. 12 on Ocracoke as quickly as possible, and to begin considering the best long-term options for adapting to these kinds of impacts in the future.”

On Sept. 6, NCDOT engineers assessed N.C. 12 on both Ocracoke and Hatteras islands. That day in Ocracoke, there were two, 500-foot sections of road severely damaged that will require extensive repairs, according to NCDOT officials. As of Monday, the section of N.C.12 on Ocracoke was closed and NCDOT expanded service Tuesday on the emergency route between Hatteras and Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor.

? 1 p.m. update:
➡️ Access to Ocracoke Island is restricted to emergency responders and authorized personnel only until further notice >> https://t.co/pTARu7vTI9
➡️ Those looking to help can securely donate at https://t.co/6nXhnWRvHt
? Drone images >> NC-12 in Hyde County pic.twitter.com/4ysvDiHSAR

— NCDOT NC12 (@NCDOT_NC12) September 8, 2019

Before boarding the plane late Wednesday morning, Regan told Coastal Review Online that Hurricane Dorian “is evidence that we’re starting to see these storms more frequently, they’re obviously becoming more intense, and there is that cumulative impact, therefore we know that climate change is something that we have to begin to take a serious look at from a planning process.”

Regan added that Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 80 of October 2018 takes a look at this problem in two stages.

“The first is on the mitigation side. What can we do to begin to lower our carbon footprint? But then there’s the reality that this is the new norm, and so how do we, as a society, learn to deal with and live with these impacts that we’re going to see in the foreseeable future?”

Regan said the administration has been spending time working with locally elected officials and others on the coast who have been living with the effects for a long time.

“There are a lot of good solutions, and we need to marry our federal, state and local resources to build back our coast in a more resilient fashion,” Regan said. “That way as we see these storms, we can have our economies bounce back much quicker.”

The other thing is, he continued, we are seeing more flooding and high-water events at times that are not hurricane related, just normal storms.

“And so it’s got to be a lot more planning done, and a lot more partnership to figure out how can we build back North Carolina to be more resilient,” he said.

The vision of Cooper’s plan fits in really nicely with what’s happening on the ground, he added, “Meaning again this is another event, but it’s not a new event. We can’t keep putting Humpty Dumpty back the same way each time.”

Flood planning and the rebuilding of wastewater treatment facilities and water systems have to be done in a way that can better anticipate the types of effects, which he said will require more forethought and more resources but will save resources in the long run, and more importantly protect water quality, environmental quality and human life.

For now, Regan recommended that those recovering from hurricanes reach out to state agencies relevant to their needs.

Some of the stories that the administration is hearing are instrumental to the planning process.

“We do have a resiliency planning process that’s underway right now being driven by the Department of Environmental Quality,” and will issue a report next March. “We’re working really hard with our other agencies to think about how do we better prepare and survive these storms that we are going see in the near future,” Regan said.

 

 

 

 

 

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Productive day in the air for @ncdeq surveying #HurricaneDorian damage on #Ocracoke Island in @HydeNC & the #ecological damage along #NC coastline. We’ll continue partnering w/ #coastal communities to address #climatechange impacts to the environment & the economy, rebuilding stronger & better than ever. #ProtectNC #YourDEQ ???

A post shared by Michael S Regan (@michael_s_regan) on Sep 11, 2019 at 3:54pm PDT

As part of Hurricane Dorian recovery, DEQ is assessing where flooding takes place and where the effects on water quality or water systems are visible.

“We’re also taking a look at, today especially, what kind of damage has been done along our coastline and how has that impacted the ecological systems and the ecology,” he said, referring to the mission of the flight. “We’re also doing a damage assessment for those reasons, but also trying to anticipate what this storm did in comparison to what other storms have done, like Florence and Matthew, so that as we begin to rebuild, especially on the natural buffers, and looking at again, investments that the state is making, how can we do it in a more effective way and a more efficient way.”

Regan said that gathering results from Hurricane Dorian is still underway, but there are results from Florence and Matthew. Funds have been appropriated to some projects to rebuilt but the state is still waiting on the federal government to provide full funding to recover from these storms.

But with Hurricane Dorian, the verdict is still out. “That’s’ why we’re here today, on the ground, doing a close look at what needs to be done specifically for these counties.”

Regan said he’s been in Tyrrell, Hyde, Craven and Beaufort counties in recent weeks, and “we’re talking with everyone that’s been impacted to make sure that those stories are incorporated into our state plan.”

He said that members of Cooper’s administration will remain involved in the area, especially in Ocracoke, to assess the storm’s damage and respond.

“These hurricanes come in for a short period of time but they leave long-term damage,” he said. “We’ll be on the ground in these counties for the foreseeable future until the last nail is put into the last plank.”

OCRACOKE ISLAND – Islanders here are just starting to see the extent of flood damage wrought by Hurricane Dorian’s shocking 7-foot surge on Friday morning that appears to have spared no building or vehicle – nor their contents – in the village.

“It came from all directions,” Bill Rich, special projects coordinator for Hyde County and former county manager, said Monday. “It was a horrible experience for a lot of people. Everybody’s lost something.”

From what most residents have observed, he said, it appears that the floodwaters reached 24 inches higher than they ever had in any storm in memory.

But Rich, a Hyde County native who has lived on the island full time since 2007, said that Ocracokers are stubbornly resilient, and fortunately the storm did not take any lives.

“We’re in our fourth day,” he said, talking on his cell phone from the island. “We’ve come a long way. We’ve got our water back. The generator went out … We were out of water for a day and a half.”

Once power is restored – some estimates put that within days, he said – recovery will continue in earnest. Each of the 1,200 electric meters on island buildings must first be checked by Tideland Electric Membership Corp. and state inspectors, he said. The state has provided additional inspectors to speed up the process. So far, Rich said, about a third of the meters need to be replaced.

Rich said he estimates that at least 80 percent of the island’s vehicles were flooded. The county estimated that 800 people were on the island, based on that there are about 500 homeowners, and that less people left than during Florence, Rich said. No one expected the surge would be so bad, he said.

The Variety Store had water to top of its first shelves. The library was inundated up to the first stack of books. The post office flooded, the hardware store flooded. The Fish house flooded, but all the fish was removed so it could be cooked. The Berkeley Manor – never known to flood – was flooded. The county’s new trams are likely destroyed.

“The good news is we just repaired all the docks at the Ocracoke Community Foundation,” Rich said. “They’re all intact.”

And the septic tanks still seem to be working, he added.

.@NCEmergency partners with non-profits like @nc_missions to provide disaster relief resources like portable showers and laundry units to those recovering. These shower and laundry units have been sent to help the North Carolinians recovering from #DorianNC on Ocracoke Island. pic.twitter.com/l79NeYTgko

— NC Emergency Managem (@NCEmergency) September 9, 2019

George Banks, who lives on Slash Creek in Hatteras, said that the village didn’t get hit as hard as Ocracoke, although numerous buildings had about 6 inches of water.

“All I know is in my garage, I had 5 inches less than (Hurricane) Matthew, and Matthew was my worst-case scenario,” said Banks, adding he got 15 inches of water in that storm.  “It could’ve been a hell of lot worse.”

Banks, who has lived in the village full time since 1988, said that he has prepared his home so he and his wife Judy can stay during storms: His propane tank is secured in the ground, he has storm shutters, his electric is partially wired to a generator and he uses an electric stove.

And he has a “secret” location where there’s high ground to park his vehicles.

“I do what I’ve got to do,” he said. “This is not my first rodeo.”

But Banks said the combined wind and water took a big toll in the village. He lost a 200-year-old oak and a 100-year-old cypress tree, and many neighbors also lost theirs.

“It was mostly a tree event,” he said. “If we have 10 more storms like this on Hatteras Island, we’ll look like Jockey’s Ridge.”

Long-term recovery

“This is going to be a long-term situation,” Peter Vankevich of Ocracoke, co-publisher of the Ocracoke Observer, told Coastal Review Online. “You can’t believe it, all the people who have lost all their stuff.”

Vankevich said very few residents had left the island, mainly those with young children and older residents. But the situation is not going to be good when they return, with homes severely damaged, health risks from mold and tetanus, a lack of goods and services and dim prospects for the local economy.

“The bank will not open because there’s no power — (Tideland Electric Membership Coop.) pulled the meter — the health service is closed and the school will be closed for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Tideland EMC pulled the meter as part of an ongoing assessment of each building on the island. It was unclear when power will be restored.

If you are interested in contributing to #HurricaneDorian relief efforts, monetary donations are being accepted through the NC Disaster Relief Fund. You can make your donation here: https://t.co/S9TGJ8F7xc #DorianNC pic.twitter.com/iAJl2u4zT9

— NCDHHS (@ncdhhs) September 9, 2019

Trillium Health Resources personnel are on the island and will go door to door to see if people want counseling, said Laurie Potter, Hyde County Department of Social Services director. They will be on the island all week and will be at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department at the medical treatment area.

Medical assistance is available at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, which is the command center for all activities. The Ocracoke post office also is closed indefinitely, said Celeste Brooks, postmaster. However, UPS arrived Monday morning and FedEx will arrive Tuesday.

The Hyde County Health Department will administer free tetanus shots at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department.

Also, the 3^rd District congressional election is Tuesday and with the village fire department as the regular polling place, its role as the hub of emergency operations could take precedence. Vankevich said plans call for setting up a tent for voting in the parking lot next door.

Damage to the Ocracoke post office is preventing regular mail delivery. Officials said it will reopen as soon as possible. UPS was delivering on the island Monday and its drivers agreed to take any stamped items off the island.

Two, 500-foot sections of N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island’s north end were damaged, and the dunes are gone, said National Park Service Outer Banks Group Superintendent Dave Hallac, who visited the island on Sunday. The area is the same as what was restored after Hurricane Florence, except this time the brunt of the water looks like it came from the sound side.

Hallac said that in preliminary assessments, it appears that Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island experienced little impact, with minor flooding at Wright Brothers and numerous downed trees at Fort Raleigh. But the impacts in Cape Hatteras National Seashore got more and more severe traveling south.

At Buxton’s Canadian Hole day-use area for kiteboarders and windsurfers, he said, there was “substantial” damage to the parking lot and around the septic tanks.  Cape Hatteras Light Station, however, appears to have escaped all but minor impact, he said. Hallac added that he was still trying to get an assessment on the Hatteras Weather Bureau.

But the park service, along with everyone else, took a big hit on Ocracoke. Although its vehicles were parked on high ground that had never flooded before, Hallac said that they all were swamped by the surging water – although he is not sure they’re all destroyed. All told, the superintendent said he counted 135 vehicles in the park service parking lot on the village outskirts, including some that had floated into the fence in front of the Berkeley Manor.

Also, the base of the Ocracoke Lighthouse, as well as the Keepers’ Quarters and several outbuildings had flooded with up to 2 feet of water, he said.

But, in an illustration of the randomness of storms, the park service’s island office, a double-wide trailer, appeared to be unscathed.

Farther south along the coast

On Monday, 68 National Park Service employees from across the nation, part of the National Park Service Incident Management Team, began assessing Cape Lookout National Seashore.

There were about 54 new inlets cutting through from the Atlantic Ocean to Core Sound at various points of North Core Banks and 38 historic structures at Portsmouth Village were significantly damaged by flooding and winds, according to park service officials. Infrastructure at the Long Point cabin camp was also severely damaged.

“The Seashore sustained significant damage to Portsmouth Village, and North Core Banks, including the Long Point Cabins,” Superintendent Jeff West told Coastal Review Online. “This is an unprecedented event. We will assess conditions using the best science and information available to us, but it will take some time before we can move forward.”

While debris cleanup around the visitor facilities and beaches has begun, visitors are discouraged from traveling to or entering the national seashore because of safety concerns.

The park service’s Beaufort visitor center was to resume operations Tuesday. The Harkers Island visitor center is to reopen Wednesday. Passenger ferry service to Shackleford Banks from Beaufort and Harkers Island is to resume operations Wednesday. All other visitor facilities and services remained closed.

On Monday, Cedar Point Campground on the Croatan National Forest reopened and the ranger district office in New Bern returned to regular business hours. U.S. Forest Service staff said they have begun assessing damage and hazards and will reopen closed areas and roads on a case-by-case basis as conditions allow. Crews began clearing roads and trails Sunday, including the following roads known to have downed trees: Mill Branch, Cahooque Creek, Millis, Billfinger, Holston Hunter, Great Lake and Pine Cliff.

Coastal Review Online staff and the Ocracoke Observer contributed to this report.

Residents and relief teams on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands have started the long road toward restoring communities battered by heavy winds and a soundside storm surge of historic proportions as Hurricane Dorian raked the North Carolina coast late last week.

Access to Ocracoke remained closed Sunday evening after storm surge estimated at around 7 feet inundated much of the village, rising in less than two hours as Hurricane Dorian passed over the island and up through the Outer Banks.

Brand new aerial imagery from @NOAA.

Many areas in the Outer Banks remain underwater after Hurricane Dorian.

This is in Ocracoke, NC. pic.twitter.com/f4K7WWd3DQ

— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) September 8, 2019

Peter Vankevich, co-publisher of the Ocracoke Observer, said over the weekend that it’s likely that most of the vehicles on the island were destroyed, making recovery work and moving materials and supplies all the more difficult. He said supplies and recovery workers have been steadily arriving on the island, the first wave of them by all-weather helicopters early in the crisis.

“Right now it’s like a hub here,” Vankevich said from the Ocracoke Fire Station, which was also flooded during the storm, but has since been set up as a headquarters for the recovery teams. Some are going door to door to check on residents and survey damage.

Vankevich said residents were coming in to use the generators at the town radio station and the fire station to charge their phones.

Several homes and businesses on the island reported flooding for the first time, including the Variety Store on N.C. 12, which reported 2 feet of water.

After returning from a visit to the island to survey damage, Gov. Roy Cooper said many residents were still in a state of shock over how quickly the surge waters rose and swamped the island.

At a Saturday press conference in Manteo with State House Speaker Tim Moore, who accompanied the governor on the trip, Cooper said there was a great sense of relief that no one on the island was killed or seriously injured, but the damage there is widespread and the recovery will be long.

“There were a few people there who didn’t get water in their homes, but most of them did,” he said.

Cooper said the state is working on the final round of documentation necessary to apply for federal disaster funds.

Meanwhile the community is asking for supplies and volunteers. Residents have set up an email hotline at ocracokedisasterrelief@gmail.com for those wanting to help.

Ferry service, reentry

Ferry service from Swan Quarter resumed Saturday morning, but was initially limited to relief supplies and personnel.

Hyde County sped up the return process in order to allow residents to begin work on their homes as quickly as possible, according to a statement released on Saturday.

Hyde County began Monday allowing permanent Ocracoke residents to return. You must have a green reentry pass or a Hatteras priority boarding pass sticker on your vehicle to board the ferry.

Emergency personnel with red reentry passes and deliveries deemed critical to recovery and preauthorized by incident command staff will have boarding priority over residents. Be aware that you are not guaranteed a spot on the ferry.

Officials warned of limited resources on the island and homes that may not be habitable. There was no power Sunday evening and a boil water advisory was in effect. There were no shelters on the island for displaced residents.

The state Ferry Division plans to add an additional route to Ocracoke via the Hatteras ferry terminal that will come directly to Silver Lake. There are some restrictions on that route due to the type of ferry being used and the ramps available. The ferry division is advising that vehicles with low clearance will not be able to board this route.

The ferry schedule for Monday will be as follows:

• Hatteras to Ocracoke-Silver Lake: 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Silver Lake to Hatteras: 10:30 a.m., 12:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Only high-clearance vehicles will be allowed on the Hatteras-Silver Lake route.

In addition, the Ferry Division’s Pamlico Sound routes will be on the following schedule:

• Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

All fuel deliveries to Ocracoke should use the 9 a.m. Swan Quarter to Ocracoke departure.

Residents must have a green reentry pass or a Hatteras priority boarding sticker on their vehicle to board the ferry.

Hatteras Island reopening

Dare County officials announced Sunday night that access to areas south of Oregon Inlet is at Priority 3, which includes nonresident property owners and employees of noncritical businesses. The county plans to open unrestricted access to Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo at noon Tuesday allowing visitors to return.

The Salvation Army began operating mobile food kitchens on Sunday providing three daily meals at the Old PNC Bank in Buxton and Frisco Fire Department. Meal times are 8 a.m. noon and 6 p.m.

Individuals and businesses who want to contribute funds for relied can contact the Outer Banks Community Foundation at  www.obcf.org/disaster or www.obxdisaster.org.

Much of Hatteras Island experienced some of the same storm surge as Ocracoke as winds from the storm, by then a powerful Category 1, pushed water out of the northern end of Pamlico Sound driving it into Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras Village. Like other powerful storms that traced the Outer Banks, Dorian will be remembered for that eerie moment when the sound goes temporarily dry in places.

How high did the water rise in #Ocracoke? The Village Craftsmen have updated the marks on their building: #obx #Dorian #ncwx pic.twitter.com/sAKNL3lL0S

— Sam Walker OBX Today??? (@SamWalkerOBX) September 7, 2019

Sam Walker, new director of Beach 104FM and OBX today, said the tidal flats of the sound were visible for more than 100 years out during the storm an image that brings back memories of Hurricane Emily in 1993 and Irene and 2011. It’s a sight, he said, that makes everyone nervous.

“They all get concerned because they know the water is going to come back at some point,” Walker said of residents with vivid memories of those storm and the dry flats that preceded the storm surge.

This time the surge to the south did not return northward with the same force, but hurricane force winds bashed the power grid there as it did farther south and several places on the mainland.

Power being restored

Over the weekend power was slowly being restored as crews worked to replace damaged power infrastructure.

More than 10,000 residents and businesses in the area were without power after a Dominion Energy substation was taken out of commission by the storm. The company reported Sunday night that power has been restored to all but about 100 customers in Chowan, Currituck and Dare counties.

As of noon Sunday, Tideland Electric reported 1,389 outages on Ocracoke, 417 on the mainland in Hyde County, 651 in Dare County, 820 in Beaufort County, 232 in Pamlico County, 32 in Washington County and seven in Craven County.

At the height of the storm companies logged about 200,000 outages in eastern North Carolina.

N.C. 12

Transportation also remains difficult in places along N.C. 12 and secondary roads on the islands.

Jerry Jennings, chief engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s District 1, said crews were working to remove sand and continuing to assess damage to the roadway on the northern end of Ocracoke Island and on Pea Island, just south of Oregon Inlet.

Hyde County DSS and Trillium Health Resources will have disaster counseling available in Ocracoke on Monday, Sept. 9 from 2-5pm and Sept. 10th through Sept. 14th from 8am-5pm at the Lifesaving Church – Ocracoke Assembly of God on Lighthouse Rd.

— County of Hyde, NC (@HydeNC) September 8, 2019

Though Hurricane Dorian moved up the coast Thursday with heavy rains, sustained winds of about 100 mph and tornadoes, the worst of the storm’s effects were expected to be felt on the coast until the storm clears the Outer Banks Friday.

At 11 p.m. Thursday, the weakening storm was just to the southeast of Wilmington, hugging the North Carolina coast as it picked up forward speed moving northeast at about 13 mph.

“We are feeling the storm’s force, but it has only started,” Gov. Roy Cooper said during a televised news briefing late Thursday.

At that point, just after 4 p.m., the strongest winds were moving into the southern part of the North Carolina coast. But earlier in the day, the storm had already brought destruction.

Eight tornadoes were reported from Wayne to New Hanover County. No injuries or fatalities were reported but did cause structure damage.

A tornado touched down Thursday in Brunswick County leaving about a 10-mile trail of damage near Calabash and Sunset Beach. There was damage to business and homes, and vehicles and boats flipped over.

A tornado also caused property damage in Emerald Isle Thursday morning, the town announced. No injuries were reported.

At 5 p.m. Thursday, as the center of the storm was about 85 miles south-southeast of Wilmington, the storm had weakened with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Tropical storm conditions were spreading along the North Carolina coast and hurricane conditions were just a few hours away.

Flash floods are a significant concern across much of the eastern part of the state and major river flooding is forecast at the Northeast Cape Fear near Burgaw.

Part of New Hanover County already reported 9 inches of rain in a short amount of time on Thursday afternoon that led to 17 road closures due to downed trees and flooding. To follow flood conditions, sign up for notices on the Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network.

By midday Thursday, there were more than 6,500 residents without power. By 5 p.m., the number had grown to more than 7,600 and by early morning hours Friday more than 96,500 according to the Department of Public Safety’s outage map, and additional power outages and communications outages were expected.

Tideland EMC anticipates widespread power outages with restoration activities lasting several days or longer, according to Hyde County.  Tideland line crews will be joined by 81 additional personnel from neighboring states as well as in-state crews. The extra personnel have been prestaged in area hotels and consist of line workers and tree removal crews. Tideland members should report power outages by calling 1-800-882-1001 or by texting OUT to short code 85700.

The statewide power outage total as of 7:40 pm is 27,514, with a majority of these outages in Brunswick, Robeson, New Hanover, Onslow, Duplin, Wake and Johnston counties. Take a look at power outages by county here: https://t.co/LRkLy8cQxT.#DorianNC #HurricaneDorian pic.twitter.com/fHEGEIh5uR

— NC Emergency Managem (@NCEmergency) September 5, 2019

At least 50 counties declared states of emergency and more than a dozen counties or towns instituted mandatory curfews for Thursday night. By Thursday afternoon 68 emergency shelters opened and were housing more than 2,200 evacuees, according to state officials. More than 45 school districts were closed Thursday, five were on early release.

As Hurricane Dorian moves up the coast, the governor’s office offered the following safety tips:

• Never drive roads covered by water. It only takes a few inches of water to wash away a car. If you come across a road covered in water, turn around immediately.
• Stay indoors. Stay away from windows. Close storm shutters.
• Stay in a secure space, like a small interior room, closet, or hallway on the lowest level of your home.
• Stay alert. Use a radio or another device for warnings about wind, tornadoes, rising water or orders to turn off gas, water, and power.
• Never use a generator indoors. Deadly levels of carbon monoxide can build up quickly.

State emergency officials warned Thursday of flash flooding that could affect roads and lead to closures. The North Carolina Highway Patrol urged folks to not dial 911 or *hp for highway conditions, that information is available at http://DriveNC.gov.

The Coast Guard said Thursday it had staged two shallow-water rescue boat teams in North Carolina awaiting conditions safe enough to begin search-and-rescue operations. The teams of 16 people use six boats.

Search-and-rescue aircraft were staged in Elizabeth City and other Coast Guard units, including small boat station, and awaiting safe operational conditions to begin search and rescue throughout North Carolina and the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

“Safety is our primary concern as Dorian begins to head in our direction,” said Capt. Bion Stewart, commander for Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. “Stay off the water as our ability to respond during the height of storm will be degraded and rescue efforts may be delayed.”

Brunswick County officials, addressing rumors Thursday concerning water service during Hurricane Dorian, said the county had no intentions of shutting off water service. Officials said they were working with the barrier island communities to isolate valves between the mainland system and the barrier islands’ systems to protect the systems’ integrity during the hurricane. With the exception of the island portion of Sunset Beach, the barrier islands were to be operating off the water storage in elevated tanks Thursday night. Customers on these islands that currently have water service should see no effect on water pressures to their houses.

Health risks will linger

Bacterial health risks and chemical contamination perils will remain along with the threat of flooding after Dorian has cleared the North Carolina coast this weekend.

It’s best not to venture into swimming waters or ponds. Avoid contact with standing water and stay out of marshes until it’s clear that the waters are safe. Apps are available to check beach water quality and

A Wilmington man died last year after from contact with bacteria known as Vibrio vulnificus during hurricane cleanup. A man in Oriental survived a similar case but had to have a leg amputated.

The bacteria become a threat after hurricanes but not directly related to pollution. It’s the warm water that increases the risk.

A decade-long study published in April showed a significant increase of the bacteria in the Neuse River estuary. Nutrients are changing the estuary, according to the study, “driven in part by urban expansion, agricultural runoff, and high degree of livestock operations occurring in the watershed. Thus, factors driving the health of this important estuarine ecosystem are changing making an understanding of the dynamics of bacterial populations important to study.”

Lee Ferguson, associate professor of environmental chemistry and engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering and at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, studies water quality. He has led efforts to test North Carolina drinking water for chemical pollution. Flooding from Hurricane Florence in 2018 caused wastewater and chemical pollutants to spread into North Carolina rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, Ferguson said.

“Wastewater treatment plants that are built in floodplains are probably not the greatest plan for resilience in hurricanes,” Ferguson said. “In this case you’re getting washout of untreated wastewater into the rivers.”

Duke University’s Avner Vengosh studies water contamination and its relationship to human health, including coal ash contamination of water supplies. He is professor of earth and ocean sciences with Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

He noted that coal ash ponds and landfills are near several major waterways in the eastern part of North Carolina and flooding could cause that slurry and pond water to spill into adjacent rivers or lakes as happened at Sutton Lake along the Cape Fear River upstream from Wilmington after Hurricane Florence. Vengosh’s recent study found evidence that Sutton Lake had experienced multiple unmonitored coals ash spills over the years, beyond the spill caused by Hurricane Florence.

“These spills pose high human health and environmental risks because coal ash is enriched in toxic elements that can easily leach into nearby water sources and the environment when ponds or landfills fail,” Vengosh said.

He said that workers from the 2008 Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash spill, “… workers who dredged spilled coal ash from the TVA site are still experiencing serious health problems.”

State updates available

The latest storm information may be found on the state’s Hurricane Dorian website, on Twitter @NCEmergency and Facebook. Visit DriveNC.gov for traffic conditions statewide. Real-time traffic, weather and preparedness information is also available via the ReadyNC mobile app, available free for iPhones and Android devices.

To donate time or financial assistance, visit NC.Gov/donate.

Updated at 2:15 p.m.

The threat of tornadoes accompanied Hurricane Dorian’s arrival Thursday on the North Carolina coast.

A tornado watch was in effect until 4 p.m. Thursday. Tropical storm conditions were spreading along the North Carolina coast, and hurricane conditions were expected to begin later Thursday. Storm surge remains a dangerous threat with coastal areas from Myrtle Beach to Duck, including Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers could see a 4- to 7-foot surge. Rainfall could total 6 to 12 inches with isolated totals of as much as 15 inches in the coastal Carolinas.

The National Hurricane Center said the center of the storm was at 32.8 degrees north, 78.9 degrees west, or about 115 miles south-southwest of Wilmington and moving toward the north-northwest at about 8 mph at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds were 110 mph with stronger gusts, making Dorian a Category 2 storm, which are sustained winds of 96-110 mph on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

The entire North Carolina coast is under a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning is in effect for Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers.

A turn toward the northeast is anticipated by Thursday night, and a northeastward motion at a faster forward speed is forecast on Friday, forecasters said. On the forecast track, the center of Dorian will continue to move close to the coast of South Carolina Thursday, and then move near or over the coast of North Carolina Thursday night and Friday. The center should move to the southeast of extreme southeastern New England Friday night and Saturday morning, and approach Nova Scotia later on Saturday.

Fluctuations in intensity were expected Thursday morning, followed by slow weakening through Saturday. However, Dorian is expected to remain a hurricane for the next few days.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles.

Storm surge is likely to be Dorian’s most dangerous and destructive force as the hurricane passes near or over the North Carolina coast Thursday night and into Friday.

A storm the size and strength of Dorian pushes an enormous amount of water around and as it makes an expected curve to the northeast, the impacts of that surge will vary widely with exactly where the storm tracks.

“Track location makes a huge difference,” said Richard Luettich, director of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City and lead developer of predictive models of coastal storm surge that proved accurate in the last hurricane to hit North Carolina. One key, he said, is how the track interacts with Pamlico Sound, the largest lagoon on the East Coast.

“It’s a big shallow water body and shallow water is easier to pick up and lift onto the land,” Luettich said in an interview with Coastal Review Online. “It’s long, and long in the direction that the winds are going to be coming from.”

With hurricane-force winds extending 60 to 70 miles from the center of the storm, Dorian’s current track would create a powerful storm surge in the sound.

“What you’re going to see is an awful lot of water pushed from the northeastern part of Pamlico Sound into southwestern Pamlico Sound,” he said. “It’s likely to spill over into the land in Down East Carteret County and then push its way up the Neuse River as well.”

That means a high storm surge for towns along the lower Neuse River, including New Bern, which was heavily flooded during Hurricane Florence.

“New Bern kind of gets the brunt of it,” Luettich said. “As the river narrows down there’s kind of a funneling effect.”

Under the latest model runs, there will also be substantial beach erosion from high waves with the highest impacts likely to come along the strands just north of Wilmington, which could see the peak of the storm coincide with high tide.

“Storm tide, the combination of storm surge and high tide, will be maximum north of Cape Fear, in the Wrightsville Beach area, where the surge and high tide are likely to co-occur.”

A main worry in that area and especially along Topsail Island is that many of the dunes and beaches were heavily damaged in Hurricane Florence.

“That’s one of the challenges of having these (storms) year after year after year,” Luettich said “If the recovery isn’t fast then a much lesser event can cause as much or more damage in the follow-up year as a larger event would have with protective structure like a dune line intact and good and beefy.”

For now, Hurricane Dorian is expected to move along the coast much faster than Hurricane Florence, reducing the chances for heavy inland flooding. Its track resembles Hurricane Matthew, but for now it looks like it will follow much closer to the Outer Banks, which was spared much of Matthew’s wrath after the storm curved sharply out to sea at Cape Lookout.

Where Dorian tracks as it moves along the Outer Banks will determine the impacts. There’s a big difference in which side of that thin strip the storm is on.

Luettich said the more offshore the storm tracks, the more the main impacts are felt around Cedar Island, Portsmouth and Ocracoke.

If it tracks up the sound side, the impacts would be similar to Hurricane Irene, the 2011 storm that caused heavy soundside flooding on Hatteras Island and in soundside communities in Pamlico and Hyde counties.

In that scenario, as the storm arrives winds are blowing more east to west pushing water into Oriental, Hobucken, Bellhaven and Swan Quarter, Luettich said.

As happened during Irene, the sound side of Hatteras Island could even go dry, exposing the tidal flats. Then as the storm passes the winds blow west to east, pushing the water back and creating a storm surge on the back side of the barrier islands affecting Portsmouth, Ocracoke, Rodanthe and on up to Wanchese and Manteo. That dynamic, he said, is also the main source of new inlets.

“When you get inlets cut through a barrier island, it’s often the times you have sound water that gets pushed out to the coastal ocean,” Luettich said.

Updated at 5:45 p.m.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the entire North Carolina coast, including Albemarle and Pamlico sounds.

Dorian is forecast to move near or over the coast of South Carolina and North Carolina Thursday through Friday.

The National Hurricane Center said Wednesday afternoon that satellite imagery showed significant cooling in the cloud tops in the eye wall in recent hours, with the eye becoming better defined. But forecasters noted newer reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft that show little change in intensity.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the center of Hurricane Dorian was at 30.6 degrees north, 79.8 degrees west, or about 275 miles south-southwest of Wilmington with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. and moving north-northwest at 8 mph.

Life-threatening storm surge and dangerous winds are expected to reach the North Carolina coast, regardless of the exact track of Dorian’s center. There is a high risk of flash flooding on Thursday across coastal sections from northeast South Carolina into southern North Carolina.

A storm surge warning is in effect for Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers. A storm surge warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours.

Forecasters said the combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.  The water could reach 4 to 7 feet above ground from the Savannah River to Cape Lookout if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide and 3 to 5 feet from Cape Lookout to Duck, including Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers.

Here’s the latest rainfall 5-day rainfall forecast from @NWSWPC for #Dorian. For specific details in your area, see https://t.co/SiZo8ozBbn pic.twitter.com/0GoPpHog6a

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 3, 2019

Rainfall amounts are forecast to total 5 to 10 inches, with isolated amounts of 15 inches along the Carolina coast.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the North Carolina-Virginia border to Chincoteague, Virginia.

Dorian is forecast to continue to pick up speed toward the northwest or north-northwest through early Wednesday. A turn toward the north is forecast by Wednesday evening, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast on Thursday morning.  On this track, the core of Hurricane Dorian will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast and the Georgia coast through Wednesday night.  The center of Dorian is forecast to move near or over the coast of South Carolina and North Carolina Thursday through Friday morning.

A video update from the National Weather Service’s Newport/Morehead City office.

Gov. Roy Cooper issued on Tuesday a mandatory evacuation order effective 8 a.m. Wednesday for North Carolina’s barrier islands. County and municipal governments in coastal areas have also issued mandatory and voluntary evacuations.

“Please heed any evacuation orders from local emergency officials where you live,” said Cooper. “Don’t try to ride it out. You’re putting your life at risk. You’re also putting at risk the lives of first responders who may have to rescue you.”

North Carolina Emergency Management has opened shelters in other areas of the state, including locations that are pet-friendly. For updated shelter information, visit the website.

The federal government granted Cooper’s request for a federal disaster declaration for North Carolina Tuesday.

Cooper said more than 300 North Carolina National Guard soldiers were moving into positions in armories across the state. Water rescue teams were moving to staging areas closer to the coast.

Emergency management officials urge residents to follow local news for the latest advisories from the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center as well as state and local emergency management officials.

Officials also recommend preparing to lose power for an extended period, have well-stocked emergency supply kits with enough bottled water and nonperishable food to sustain each family member for three to seven days and to plan for your pets.

County Evacuations

Currituck County officials issued a mandatory evacuation of Corolla and Carova beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Those needing evacuation assistance should call Currituck Emergency Management at 252-232-2115.

In Dare County a mandatory evacuation order is in effect for visitors and a mandatory evacuation order for residents goes into effect at 6 a.m. Wednesday. Emergency Management strongly urges everyone to heed the warning and evacuate. Those who do not evacuate should be prepared to sustain themselves for at least 72 hours. Emergency personnel will not be able to respond to calls for help during the flooding and high winds that are expected during this storm. Transportation to a shelter in Rocky Mount was made available for Dare County residents Wednesday. Subscribe to receive emergency alerts via text, email or phone directly from Dare County Emergency Management and follow @DareCountyEM on Twitter. All Criminal, Civil and Magistrates Court scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are canceled. New court dates will be scheduled and notifications sent out on or after Monday.

In Hyde County, a mandatory evacuation for residents takes effect at 5 a.m. Wednesday. A shelter will open at noon Wednesday at Northampton County Cultural and Wellness Center, 9536 N.C. 305, Jackson, for evacuees. Pets are allowed at this shelter. Please bring vaccination records and a kennel if you are traveling with your pets. Anyone with special medical needs that need to evacuate should contact the EOC at 252-926-3715 for guidance. Hyde Transit will be assisting those who need aid with evacuation transportation. Details can be found online. A curfew will be in effect for Ocracoke Island 10 p.m.-6 a.m. starting Wednesday. A ban on alcohol sales will begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday for Ocracoke and 4 p.m. Thursday for the mainland. The Hyde County Emergency Operations Center can be reached at 252-926-3715. If you need assistance with evacuation transportation call Hyde Transit at 252-926-1637. If you have an emergency call 911. Hyde County government offices will be closed from Wednesday through Friday. All Hyde County convenience sites will close at noon Wednesday. The county commissioners meeting scheduled for Tuesday is postponed.

The final ferry departure from Ocracoke to Swan Quarter will be at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, the final departure from Ocracoke to Cedar Island will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday and the final departure from Ocracoke to Hatteras will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

In Tyrrell County a voluntary evacuation takes effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Washington County has called for voluntary evacuation of low-lying areas.

Craven County issued a voluntary evacuation order to go into effect 2 p.m. Wednesday for those living in low-lying areas with a history of extreme flooding. Extreme wind, storm surge, rainfall and river flooding is expected in the Neuse and Trent river basins in Craven County as early as Wednesday evening, officials said. Craven County Emergency Shelters will open at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Havelock High School, 101 Webb Blvd.; Creekside Elementary, 2790 Landscape Drive, New Bern; Ben D. Quinn Elementary, 4275 Martin Luther King Blvd., New Bern, pet friendly; and Farm Life Elementary, 2000 Farm Life Ave., Vanceboro. For more information on emergency shelters call Craven County Emergency Management at 252-636-6608.  Craven County Government Emergency Management updates will appear on the Craven County website, on the Craven County Facebook page @cravencounty and the Craven County Emergency Management Twitter account @cravencountync.

Pamlico County Emergency Management issued a voluntary evacuation beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday. The county emergency operations center will begin 24-hour operations Wednesday. A shelter is to open at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Pamlico Community College. Animals are permitted but will be housed in a separate building under the supervision of the county animal control.

Carteret County issued a mandatory evacuation starting at noon Wednesday for North River, South River, Down East, and residents in manufactured homes including park models, recreational vehicles and mobile homes. The Emergency Operations Center will be open at 8 a.m. Wednesday. For general information, call 252-726-7061. Carteret County Emergency Management anticipates the shelter at the Newport Middle School, 500 E. Chatham St., Newport, will open at noon Wednesday.

Atlantic Beach is under a mandatory evacuation and town officials encouraged residents and visitors to be in a safe place and sheltered by 10 a.m. Thursday. A re-entry pass may be required after the storm, depending on the degree of damage and condition of property damage and roadways. Effective 7 p.m. Thursday, access to Atlantic Beach will be restricted until further notice A town-wide curfew will be in effect starting at 7 p.m. Thursday. During curfew, it is illegal for anyone to leave their own property and travel anywhere within Atlantic Beach. Only essential personnel will be permitted on public roadways.

Beaufort has issued a mandatory evacuation that began at 3 p.m. Tuesday. All residents should be at a safe location by early Wednesday evening, according to town officials.

A mandatory evacuation for Emerald Isle goes into effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday. All residents, property owners and visitors should evacuate no later than 7 p.m. Thursday, when access to Emerald Isle will be restricted until further notice. Alcohol sales will cease at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday and will remain suspended until further notice. There is a town-wide curfew effective 7 p.m. Thursday. Only essential personnel are permitted on the roadways. During the curfew, it is illegal for anyone to leave their own property and travel anywhere within Emerald Isle. The Emerald Isle Bridge is to close at 10 a.m. Thursday and will remain closed until town officials determine it is safe.

Pine Knoll Shores’ mandatory evacuation takes effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Evacuees should reach their safe location by 8 p.m. Wednesday. The town’s beaches will be closed 8 a.m. Wednesday until further notice. The town hall will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Cape Carteret’s mandatory evacuation takes effect at noon Wednesday. A curfew takes effect at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Onslow County has called for a voluntary evacuation for the unincorporated areas of the county. The county will open shelters starting at 7 a.m. Thursday at Jacksonville Commons Middle School, Dixon Middle School, Swansboro High School and Richlands High School.

Pender County will open three shelters at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Cape Fear Middle School, Malpass Corners Elementary and Topsail Elementary. Cape Fear Middle School is the pet-friendly shelter. Pet owners are required to present rabies vaccination records. Residents need to bring pet food and water and carriers. Residents who are listed on the special-needs registry should contact the health department at 910-259-1230. Pender County Emergency Management will post updates on the Facebook page and on the website. If you need assistance call the EM office at 910- 259-1210.

Topsail Beach commissioners issued a mandatory evacuation for all visitors and a voluntary evacuation for owners and residents effective 2 p.m. Tuesday. The voluntary evacuation for owners and residents will become mandatory at noon Wednesday. There is an 8 p.m. curfew for Wednesday.

New Hanover County issued Tuesday a mandatory evacuation order beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday for residents and visitors of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Wrightsville Beach and Figure Eight Island. Residents in areas prone to flooding or storm surge and those in travel trailers, mobile homes or homes still damaged from Hurricane Florence are under a voluntary evacuation beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Residents and visitors should evacuate and be in a safe location before 8 p.m. Wednesday. Residents near major waterways and near many of the county’s creeks are under voluntary evacuation because of the expected 1- to 3-feet of storm surge, with potential of higher localized areas near Cape Fear River and the Intracoastal Waterway.

“This is not the same type of rain event we saw with Hurricane Florence, but we have residents who are still in temporary housing or homes that can’t yet withstand the impacts of another storm,” said New Hanover County Emergency Management Director Steven Still. “Two shelters will open Wednesday and our partners are in the community helping Hurricane Florence survivors have their plan in place by Wednesday evening.”

New Hanover County will open emergency shelters at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at Codington Elementary School, 4321 Carolina Beach Road, Wilmington and Blair Elementary on Blair School Road. The pet-friendly shelter is at 6510 Market St., Wilmington. House cats and dogs brought to the shelter will be kept in a separate wing of the facility, and owners are allowed visitation at designated times. Those seeking emergency shelter should bring their own blankets and pillows, prescription medications and other necessary items like extra clothing and hygiene supplies. No alcohol, illegal drugs or weapons are permitted. There will be limited food service available for people seeking shelter. The public can call the Emergency Public Information Center with questions about shelters, evacuation orders, protective measures, or current notices at 910-798-6800.

Brunswick County is to open three shelters at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday is the voluntary evacuation for unincorporated areas and the mandatory evacuation for the communities of Bald Head Island, Caswell Beach, Oak Island, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset Beach.

All pet friendly, shelters are at North Brunswick High School, 114 Scorpion Drive, Leland; West Brunswick High School, 550 Whiteville Road, Shallotte; and South Brunswick High School, 280 Cougar Road, Boiling Spring Lakes.

The Brunswick County Government Complex and Brunswick County Courthouse are closed Wednesday through Friday. All court sessions are canceled and all rescheduled cases will receive notice of their new hearing dates by USPS.

Oak Island issued a voluntary evacuation for low-lying areas and a mandatory evacuation for visitors/tourists. Reentry information is available on Oak Island’s website.

The governor’s office has activated the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund for donations to support North Carolina’s response to Hurricane Dorian.

Duke Energy says precautions in place

Duke Energy said teams had taken the necessary steps to prepare the facilities for Dorian. A spokesperson for the utility said Tuesday that its coal ash basins in North Carolina had performed well through recent hurricanes.

Soon after Florence, Duke Energy reported that about 2,000 cubic yards of soil and ash had spilled from the landfill at L.V. Sutton Power Station in Wilmington. Samples collected by researchers from Duke University showed an unexpectedly high magnitude of contaminants that indicated a much larger release. The company at the time called the researchers’ findings “ludicrous.”

Paige Sheehan with Duke Energy Corporate Communications provided a statement that the utility had plans in place to minimize potential effects from the storm and to ensure there is adequate staffing, supplies and equipment in place. Also, she said, the utility was “well down the path to safely closing ash basins” and that sites in the path of the storm already have lower water levels in the basins and could hold significant rainfall.

“At the retired Sutton Power Plant in Wilmington, basins have been excavated and the material moved to a lined landfill on plant property. Anticipating future storms, a special synthetic turf is being used to cap each landfill cell because it provides additional protection against erosion and strong winds that are known in the region. The turf is rated to withstand winds of 120 mph or a Category 3 hurricane,” Sheehan said.

She said that in response to flooding caused by recent hurricanes, the company had expanded or built new emergency spillways at cooling ponds, which do not store coal ash, at three facilities near the coast, the H.F. Lee, Weatherspoon and Sutton plants, to safely move water through the system if necessary in order to prevent damage to the facilities.

EPA ready to help

The Environmental Protection Agency said it is working with local, state, tribal and federal agencies to be ready to assist. EPA Region 4 based in Atlanta has also identified the list of potentially affected Superfund sites, including ones in North Carolina. In addition to the EPA liaisons supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Regional and National Response Centers, EPA said it would provide water sector support for the Army Corps of Engineers at the Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina emergency operation centers in the coming days, pending federal declarations of emergency.

Avoid Swimming After Storm

State recreational water quality officials are advising the public to avoid swimming in all coastal waters of North Carolina following Hurricane Dorian until testing indicates bacteria levels meet state and federal standards. Testing will begin as soon as conditions are safe to do so and areas are accessible, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality.

“Severe weather events like hurricanes can bring excessive amounts of rain and cause extreme flooding.  These conditions increase levels of harmful bacteria in our coastal waters that can cause illness,” said Erin Bryan-Millush, manager of the N.C. Recreational Water Quality Program. “The source of bacteria varies from failing septic systems, sewer line breaks, overflowing manholes and wildlife.”

While state officials will not have immediate laboratory confirmation that disease-causing organisms are in the water, there is an increased chance that contamination will be present following the storm, and those swimming in these waters have an increased chance of adverse health effects.

Coastal Review Editor Mark Hibbs, Assistant Editor Jennifer Allen and reporter Trista Talton contributed to this report.

This story has been updated

Labor Day in North Carolina was under a state of emergency in preparation for deadly but still-distant Hurricane Dorian, which was stalled over Grand Bahama Island Monday night where it had been for much of the day — wreaking havoc there and causing prolonged uncertainty for folks here.

Gov. Roy Cooper declared the state of emergency for all 100 counties on Sunday, setting up for state resources to be mobilized and beginning the process for state and local governments to seek federal aid.

The powerful and dangerous storm, which left five dead as it devastated much of the Bahamas on Monday with Category 5 winds and a 20-foot storm surge, was expected to weaken and speed up once it makes its expected turn north.

Evacuations, mandatory for visitors, were underway along the Outer Banks and other local government officials up and down the North Carolina coast were set to meet Tuesday to decide on evacuations, school closings and other matters as forecasters put a weakened but still powerful Hurricane Dorian approaching the North Carolina coast late Thursday.

In a briefing on North Carolina storm preparations Monday, Cooper urged residents to step up their storm preparations.

“Because this storm is anticipated to pick up speed, time is running out to get ready,” Cooper said.

On Tuesday, a hurricane watch was issued from north of South Santee River in South Carolina to Duck, including the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.

As of noon Tuesday, the center of Dorian, a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, was at 27.2 degrees north, 78.6 degrees west, or about 105 miles east of Fort Pierce, Florida. The storm was moving northwest at about 2 mph with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph with stronger gusts and minimum central pressure of 28.2 inches. A storm surge watch has been extended northward to Cape Lookout.

The storm has finally begun to make its expected turn toward the northwest. The hurricane is expected to move dangerously close to Florida’s east coast late Tuesday through Wednesday evening, very near the Georgia and South Carolina coasts Wednesday night and Thursday, and near or over the North Carolina coast late Thursday and Friday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 150 miles.

Hurricane #Dorian continues to hammer Grand Bahama Island this evening. As of 9 pm Dorian remains stationary 25 mi NE of Freeport. Max winds are 140 mph & most of the Island remains within the eyewall. Radar loop is from the Melbourne FL & runs 35 hours from 10 am Sun to 9 pm Mon pic.twitter.com/TP9tZWTZlh

— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) September 3, 2019

Katie Webster, meteorologist with the state Emergency Management said the forecast change could reduce the amount of flooding from the storm.

“Our thinking now is that while we could see a deviations from the track whether it be eastward or westward, this is fairly fast-moving storm. After talking with the Hurricane Center we have good confidence that the storm will be moving quickly as it crosses our coast,” she said. “I don’t think at this point we are anticipating the large amounts of rain we saw in Hurricane Florence.”

Webster said for now the forecast is for 5 to 10 inches with some areas along the coast possibly seeing as much as 15 inches.

State Emergency Management Director Michael Sprayberry said the state is prepositioning supplies and rescue crews. In addition to a larger number of swift-water rescue teams, Sprayberry said there’s a fleet of high-water vehicles around the region, especially in the Wilmington area, where land access was severely limited after the Hurricane Florence.

State transportation officials said there is still concern about potential flooding along Interstate 40, but that the temporary bridge on U.S. 421 near the Pender and New Hanover County line should remain functioning through the storm.

Tim Little, chief engineer with the state Department of Transportation, said the permanent bridge over a deep gash cut in the roadway during Hurricane Florence is nearly ready to open and is being readied to be used after the storm if necessary.

Visitors Must Leave

Dare County officials Monday afternoon issued a state of emergency and ordered a mandatory evacuation for all visitors starting at noon Tuesday. A mandatory evacuation order for all residents takes effect at 6 a.m. Wednesday. Visitors should evacuate with all personal belongings and follow instructions from their property management company.

Hyde County’s state of emergency went into effect at 5 a.m. Monday, and county commissioners ordered a mandatory evacuation of all visitors from Ocracoke Island effective 5 a.m. Tuesday. A mandatory evacuation of Ocracoke residents takes effect 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Only residents, homeowners or vendors with an Ocracoke reentry pass on their vehicles will be allowed on ferries inbound to Ocracoke beginning at 5 a.m. Tuesday. Priority boarding will be suspended for all vessels leaving Ocracoke, and tolls have been waived for ferries heading from Ocracoke to Cedar Island or Swan Quarter.

The Ocracoke-Hatteras, Ocracoke-Cedar Island and Ocracoke-Swan Quarter ferry routes will run their published schedules. The final departure from Ocracoke to Swan Quarter will be at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday. The final departure from Ocracoke to Cedar Island will be 1 p.m. Wednesday and the final departure from Ocracoke to Hatteras will be  2 p.m. Wednesday.

Those evacuating to areas north of Dare County are encouraged to travel westbound on Highway 64 to Interstate 95. Evacuating through the rural areas to the west of Dare County will help avoid traffic backups and congestion that may prolong evacuation by traveling northbound through the Hampton Roads portion of Virginia.

Dare County’s new online reentry permitting system is now in effect and reentry permits from previous years are no longer valid. Permanent residents may still use a valid driver’s license with a Dare County address for reentry. A current tax bill or parcel data sheet with matching current government issued ID will also be accepted.

Monday was the last day of the season for the passenger ferry, Ocracoke Express, per the North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division.

Central and Southern Coast

Wilmington’s city operations will be open Tuesday but city offices will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Brunswick County’s government buildings are scheduled to open as usual Tuesday, according to a 2:30 p.m. Monday update.

The county issued a state of emergency effective 7 a.m. Tuesday to prepare for the potential threats Hurricane Dorian poses to the county and to continue preparations with state and other partners, the county announced Tuesday morning. Emergency Services is preparing to possibly open shelters should the projected path of Hurricane Dorian continue to track toward the county. More information about emergency kits, emergency plans and communication channels on the county website.

A voluntary evacuation and state of emergency was issued Monday for Carteret County effective 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Pamlico County has declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm, according to Pamlico County Emergency Management.

Craven County declared a state of emergency effective at 5 p.m. Monday. “Craven County is taking steps to prepare for the worst while continuing to hope for the best,” said Jack Veit, Craven County manager.

The Onslow County Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning and issued a State of Emergency starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday and has declared a voluntary evacuation order, which is in effect for the unincorporated areas of Onslow County.

New Bern and Beaufort each declared states of emergency Monday. In Beaufort, a mandatory evacuation may be issued by 10 a.m. Tuesday to begin at 3 p.m.

Emerald Isle announced a state of emergency effective 8 a.m. Tuesday. A voluntary evacuation is recommended and if conditions warrant, a mandatory evacuation may be ordered.  Rental generators, storm water pumps and fuel cells were scheduled to arrive by Wednesday and local homeowners associations are asked to pump down detention ponds and prepare for heavy rainfall. Rip currents and hazardous seas are expected to continue through next weekend.

Surf City’s state of emergency went into effect at  1 p.m. Sunday, North Topsail Beach’s at 1 p.m. Sunday.

A state of emergency will go into effect for Southport at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

School Closings

Carteret County schools were to operate under a normal schedule Tuesday. Decisions about Wednesday were to be made by noon Tuesday.

Pender County Schools will be open Tuesday but classes for Wednesday and Thursday have been canceled. Cape Fear Community College will close Wednesday and Thursday. The schools will monitor the storm to determine the Friday schedule.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington  has canceled classes Tuesday through Friday. All students must be evacuated from campus by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

All Brunswick County Schools will be on an early dismissal schedule Tuesday for students and staff to prepare for the impacts of Hurricane Dorian.

New Hanover County Schools will operate on a normal, full-day schedule for students and staff on Tuesday but there will be no evening activities such as athletics and Drivers education. Schools will be closed for students on Wednesday, and is an optional workday with early release for employees. Schools will be closed for students and staff on Thursday. Friday’s schedule will e announced.

Maritime Interests

The State Ports Authority announced Monday that the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City would operate under normal gate hours Tuesday. Commercial gate hours at the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City will now operate 7 a.m. to noon Wednesday instead of the originally announced closure.

DORIAN UPD 3: At this time, the ports of Wilmington & Morehead City are operating under normal gate hours. Based on current forecasts, commercial gate hours at both facilities will NOW operate 0700-1200 Wed., 9/4 instead of the originally announced closure #ncports #ncwx #Dorian pic.twitter.com/5tXdXWsfyn

— NC Ports (@NCPorts) September 3, 2019

The state Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding fishers to remove fishing gear from the water well before the storm’s arrival, especially crab pots and gill nets, which are prone to damage and displacement during storms.

Vessel owners should check to ensure all safety equipment is in working order and plan to remove their boats from the water or take them to safe harbor as the storm approaches. Vessels that remain in the water should be secured with extra mooring lines.

Park Closures

Moores Creek National Battlefield will close at noon Tuesday and will remain closed until the storm passes and staff has time to assess park conditions.

Cape Lookout National Seashore will close at 10 a.m. Tuesday. On Monday, the Harkers Island Visitor Center, Beaufort Visitor Information Center, Light Station Visitor Center and the Keepers Quarters Museum closed and Island Express Ferry Service ceased operations out of Beaufort and Harkers Island.

Reservations from Tuesday to Friday at Great Island and Long Point cabin camps were canceled, with additional closure beyond this time frame pending the storm’s arrival. Reservations cancelled due to weather will be issued a full refund at www.recreation.gov, or call 877-444-6777.

“I hope this thing goes out to sea, but hope is not a plan. I really hate to impact people’s plans, and we aim to reopen as soon as possible afterwards,” said Superintendent Jeff West.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial staff are currently preparing for potential storm impacts. A high risk of rip currents, causing life threatening conditions, will persist throughout the week all along Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

“Park users should stay out of the Atlantic ocean until Hurricane Dorian passes and the risk of rip currents and hazardous beach conditions declines,” said Superintendent David Hallac.

Visitor services including the campground, visitor center, ranger programs and off-road vehicle permit sales office will be suspended at 10 a.m. Tuesday on Ocracoke Island for the duration of the weather event.

Visitor centers and visitor services are likely to be suspended later this week at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Croatan National Forest campgrounds, recreation areas and gated roads will temporarily close at noon Tuesday. The ranger district office in New Bern will  close 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Sites will reopen as soon as hazards have been evaluated and mitigated.

Learn More

• Access hurricane preparation information at ReadyNC.org or download the free ReadyNC app.

Coastal Review Editor Mark Hibbs, Assistant Editor Jennifer Allen and legislative reporter Kirk Ross contributed to this report.