A news release from the National Weather Service on Sunday afternoon said that even though the unusually high tides have already peaked and are going down, they will still cause minor to moderate flooding along the coast until Tuesday.
From Duck to Ocracoke town, a Coastal Flood Advisory will stay in place until Tuesday afternoon.
The water level is expected to stay one to two feet above ground on the ocean side and up to one foot above ground on the sound side, especially at high tide.
At the northern end of Ocracoke, water got into NC12, making it hard to drive, but ferry service did not stop. In Ocracoke Village, water rose in many of the low-lying marshes and ditches next to the roads, but it didn’t flood the roads.
The NCDOT said that NC12 on Ocracoke Island is still open and can be used, but drivers should be very careful and go less fast.
On Sunday, there is four to seven inches of water on the road, mostly along the southbound lane’s edge. On the scene, crews were working to make things better where the water is deepest.
Two homes on G.A. Kohler Court in Rodanthe, Hatteras Island, fell down on Friday because of rough surf and higher-than-usual waves.
Over the weekend, the north-to-south current carried debris more than 20 miles to the south between Avon and Buxton. The National Park Service, contractors hired by one of the homes, and volunteers all worked to pick up the debris.
Monday in the ocean there is also a high chance of rip currents and dangerous beach break.
The National Hurricane Center is keeping a close eye on a storm in the western Caribbean. By the end of this week, it is expected to grow into a tropical cyclone and pose a threat to the states along the Gulf Coast.
It’s still too early to tell if this storm will have any effects on eastern North Carolina, but most models show that the center of circulation will stay far to our west.
Through the Ferry Information Notification System (FINS) at www.ncdot.gov/fins, the NCDOT Ferry Division sends text or email messages from their routes in real time. The Ferry Division’s Twitter and Facebook pages will also have updates on the state of routes across the whole system.