It?s been a tough fall and winter for those of you who love to visit Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.
First, Hurricane Sandy damaged Highway 12 on northern Hatteras. Sandy was followed by several northeasters and the result was that the road was closed for almost two months.
A coastal storm earlier this month brought soundside flooding on Wednesday, March 6, and then was slow to move to the northeast. Heavy seas overwashed the highway at high tide for almost a week.
Shoaling in the main channel in Hatteras Inlet kept the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry closed down for almost a month.
We know from the posts many of you have made on websites, Facebook pages, and message boards that you are worried about the vacation you have planned this year or are worried about whether to plan a vacation here this year.
We have a message for you as you look forward to the first day of spring on Wednesday and Easter on March 31, which is the traditional beginning of the tourist season on the islands.
We are open and ready for you.
After a week of overwashing Highway 12 at high tide, the ocean has calmed down and the road is open to all traffic, all the time.
The Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry is running again, though on an amended schedule. Dredging to clear the channel is scheduled to be completed at least by the end of March, and the Ferry Division will return to its regular schedule on the route.
Rental houses have been spring cleaned. Campgrounds and motels are taking reservations. Restaurants are open or getting ready to open, as are the islands? retail shops. Charter boats are ready to take you fishing, and the tackle shops are open. Watersports stores have mostly been open all winter and are ready for a new season of renting, offering lessons, and helping you choose equipment to buy.
The National Park Service, which had been expected to scale back services to visitors this summer because of forced cuts to the federal budget, got some good news last week. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore now has permission to hire the seasonal workers who make the park run in the summer.
The campgrounds will be open, though Oregon Inlet, Frisco, and Ocracoke will open two weeks later than was announced ? on April 19 instead of April 5.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse will be open for climbing as planned from April 19 until Columbus Day. Also, the Park Service has announced that the Bodie Island Lighthouse will be open for climbing for the first time this season.
The Park Service will offer its full schedule of interpretive programs ? from history to ecology to exploring the sound and watching the night sky.
Seashore officials are cautiously optimistic that they will be able to hire a full complement of lifeguards to open guarded beaches at Coquina Beach, Buxton Beach, and the Ocracoke Day Use Center.
There will be some areas closed for nesting turtles and shorebirds, but you will still be able to visit our terrific beaches for fishing, sunning, surfing, shelling, or walking. And you will be able to drive on some, though not all, of the beaches.
We can see an occasional northeaster in April or May, but, by and large, our stormy winter weather will begin to wind down.
We are looking forward to warming temperatures on land and in the ocean and calmer days in the surf.
We can?t guarantee that we won?t have a tropical storm or hurricane, but we hope not.
We also want our visitors to remember that everything you hear about Hatteras or Ocracoke being closed down isn?t always true or as it seems.
Even during our latest siege of rough seas and overwash, Highway 12 continued to be open at least part of every day.
Even after Sandy and the northeasters did their number on Highway 12, there was access to Hatteras and Ocracoke via ferry from the mainland.
Even after the Hatteras Inlet ferry stopped running, there was access to Ocracoke from the mainland, and the Ferry Division added extra runs from Swan Quarter to the island.
There is also much more up-to-date and more reliable information about access available now than there was in years past.
The Dare County Sheriff?s Office has done a great job of keep road conditions updated on the county website. You can go to that information by clicking on the yellow Hatteras Road Conditions tab at the top of the Island Free Press Front Page, on the right.
The Department of Transportation started a Facebook page last fall, which has been a terrific source of information on Highway 12 and the ferries. You can find it at http://www.facebook.com/NCDOT?fref=ts.
You can also sign up to get regular Twitter feeds from DOT and the Ferry Division.
Getting to and from these lovely barrier island sometimes isn?t easy. But the fact is that what most folks fall in love with at this seashore are the breathtaking views, the isolation, and the solitude.
There will be occasional travel inconveniences — for us who live here and for those of you who visit.
But be assured that state and local officials have plans to make our transportation corridor more reliable, and they?re working hard to make those plans reality, but the reality is that all of this will take time.
Meanwhile, we are here. Our highway is open. Our ferries are running. We?re ready for you.
And there is still time to make a reservation for Easter week. So come on down.
