Highway 12 Expected to Reopen This Evening After Longer-Than-Normal Winter Storm

NCDOT reports that N.C. Highway 12 remains closed in both directions between the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge and Rodanthe due to ocean overwash.  The road is expected to reopen by 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 6.

“Our crews are working extremely hard to meet the 6:30 p.m. target for reopening both closed sections of N.C. 12,” said NCDOT in a social media post. “As long as we don’t find any structural damage and the high tide cycles continue to normalize, we expect to get N.C. 12 completely open to all traffic late this afternoon.”

The nor’easter that arrived on Friday and which continued to bring high surf to the islands through early Tuesday morning was not an unusual storm in terms of strength, but was unusual for its duration.

“The biggest thing with this [storm] was how long it lasted, and how long the winds were sustained.” said Meteorologist Chris Collins from the National Weather Service Newport / Morehead City office. “It was not particularly larger than any other system, [but] the duration made it severe.”

“It was how slow it was moving – and the duration of the wind – that made it worse than normal.”

Roads were beginning to clear as of Tuesday morning, allowing NCDOT to work on repairs in earnest. The NCDOT reported that area road conditions were as follows

Residential trash collection for Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, and Avon will be postponed from Tuesday, March 6 to Wednesday March 7.

The Fessenden Center will be open on Tuesday, March 6, but all scheduled fitness classes and activities are cancelled. Dare County Schools on Hatteras Island were also closed on Tuesday.

Coastal Flood Warnings remain up for Outer Banks Dare County, with a Coastal Flood Advisory for Ocracoke, and High Surf Advisories for Carteret County until 1 p.m. today.

For more information, visit www.weather.gov/mhx for weather forecast information, or the National Weather Service office in Newport / Morehead City’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/NWSMoreheadCity/.

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