The weekend storm that pummeled the Outer Banks with two days of sustained winds of 30-plus mph and gusts much higher wreaked havoc on NC 12 and caused the ferry system to suspend operations. Monday morning the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter ferries resumed their regular schedules. The Ocracoke/Hatteras run remained shut down and the NCDOT […]
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Despite urging from some Ocracoke islanders, the Hyde County commissioners delayed action Monday night to reopen Ocracoke and will take up the question again on Nov. 18. Ocracoke was shut down on Sept. 4 when the commissioners declared a mandatory evacuation ahead of Hurricane Dorian, which struck the island Sept. 6 causing massive flooding that […]
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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 […]
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Like most of the village, the record-setting storm surge from the passage of Hurricane Dorian just after dawn on Sept. 6 severely damaged Ocracoke School, effectively closing it. School officials are optimistic classes can resume in other island locations in about two weeks. “There was water and mud everywhere, from 10 to 12 inches in […]
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Ocracoke will once again head to the beach and join more than 80 other locations from 12 states, as well as Canada, Australia, Belize and New Zealand, for the Hands Across America show of solidarity to protect the coasts and ocean. Florida has the most locations with 23 as of Sunday and more locations nationally […]
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A picture is worth one thousand words. The electronic messaging sign is up and running again. Located at the north end of the village heading to the Hatteras Inlet ferry terminal, the sign was installed in early 2015 at the urging of the N.C. Ferry Division by the N.C. Department of Transportation which manages it […]
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As Hurricane Florence headed to Eastern North Carolina last September, residents from Dare County all the way down to South Carolina had their personal Category 4 level of anxiety. Although Ocracoke and points further north were largely spared, it was not the case for those to the south and communities on the mainland that dealt […]
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Portsmouth Village suffered no major damage from the passage of Hurricane Florence Sept. 13. Cape Lookout National Seashore Superintendent Jeff West visited the village last week after the storm to assess the historic site. “We lost three structures–the Armtech (a modern building), a modern fishing shed and one of Henry Pigott’s out buildings,” West, said. […]
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In early January, President Donald Trump’s administration announced a five-year plan that would invite drilling in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans. So, with the real possibility of offshore drilling off the mid-Atlantic coast looming again, islanders and visitors will once again have an opportunity to show their opposition by participating in Hands Across the […]
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By Peter Vankevich Ocracoke Observer Ocracoke’s first Waterfowl Festival on April 21 in the school gym will celebrate renowned island carver Dave O’Neal. When you step inside his Down Point Decoys Shop, you may feel you have wandered into an earlier time. The small building that once served as the island’s post office is “downtown,” […]
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