UPDATE:  The calendars are in and ready for local pickup.  Non-local orders will begin shipping to those who preordered tomorrow.  If you haven’t ordered your calendars yet, click here to place your order while they last.   The Island Free Press (IFP) is excited to announce the launch of a brand new project, the first-ever [...] Local News |  Full Article

A Coastal Flood Advisory and High Surf Advisory have been issued for the Outer Banks area until 9 p.m. on Wednesday, September 27, per an update from the National Weather Service. Large breaking waves of 5 to 8 feet are expected in the surf zone, and up to 1 to 2 feet of inundation above [...] Local News |  Full Article

by Trista Talton and Jennifer Allen Assembly approved a long-awaited state budget that includes provisions that strip counties and municipalities of certain governing powers. The Republican-controlled legislature last Friday passed a $30 billion budget, one that boosts Medicaid, bans local governments from regulating the use of plastics, grants millions in funding for living shorelines projects, and [...] Local News |  Full Article

A Coastal Flood Advisory has been issued for the Outer Banks area from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Wednesday, September 27, per an update from the National Weather Service. The Coastal Flood Advisory is for all Dare County beaches from Duck to Hatteras Village. Up to 1 to 2 feet of inundation above ground [...] Local News |  Full Article

The Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry, Ocracoke-Cedar Island ferry, and Ocracoke-Swan Quarter ferry resumed regular operations on Sunday morning, September 24, per an update from the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division. Ferry service was suspended starting on Friday due to high winds and hazardous weather conditions stemming from Tropical Storm Ophelia. For a complete schedule for all ferry routes, [...] Local News |  Full Article

Soundside flooding was reported in multiple locations on Hatteras Island on Saturday afternoon, including side streets in Avon, in the Tri-villages communities of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo, and on northern Pea Island. Road conditions per a 6:15 p.m. Saturday update from the Dare County Sheriff’s Offices are as follows: N.C. Highway 12 in the Tri-Villages [...] Local News |  Full Article

Video from U.S. Coast Guard The Coast Guard rescued five people Friday from an anchored 38-foot catamaran that was beset by weather conditions caused by Tropical Storm Ophelia within Lookout Bight in Cape Lookout, North Carolina. The owner of sailing vessel Wanderful Life used a cell phone to call Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders on Friday [...] Local News |  Full Article

Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near Emerald Isle at 6:20 a.m. on Saturday morning at near-hurricane strength, and while N.C. Highway 12 was open on Saturday morning, soundside flooding remains a concern as Ophelia tracks north through Eastern North Carolina. “N.C. 12 remains open and passable with many areas of sand and water on the [...] Local News |  Full Article

As of the 2:00 p.m. update, the National Hurricane Center has determined that Potential Tropical Cyclone Sixteen has gained tropical characteristics and is now Tropical Storm Ophelia with current maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. At 2:00 p.m., Ophelia was located about 185 miles south of Cape Hatteras and was moving north-northwest at 12 mph. [...] Local News |  Full Article

A Storm Surge Watch has been upgraded to a Storm Surge Warning for the Outer Banks, due to the potential for storm surge flooding greater than 3 feet above ground level. A Storm Surge Warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation somewhere within the warning area in the next 36 hours The Outer [...] Local News |  Full Article

Tropical storm conditions are starting to be realized on Friday morning with rain, increasing winds, and hazardous ocean conditions affecting the Outer Banks, per an update from the National Weather Service (NWS). The National Hurricane Center anticipates that Tropical Storm Ophelia will form later on Friday and will make landfall along the North Carolina coast on Saturday, [...] Local News |  Full Article

The Hatteras-Ocracoke, Ocracoke-Swan Quarter, and Ocracoke-Cedar Island ferry operations have been suspended for Friday, September 22, due to deteriorating weather conditions, per an update from the North Carolina Ferry System. To get notified of ferry delays or cancellations, sign up for text and/or email alerts via the N.C. Ferry System’s FINS system: www.ncdot.gov/fins. Users will get [...] Local News |  Full Article

Friday, September 22, will be designated as a Remote Learning Day for all Dare County Schools, (including Cape Hatteras Elementary and Cape Hatteras Secondary Schools), in anticipation of adverse weather conditions, The district’s major concern has been the increasing wind speeds beginning in the early morning south of Oregon Inlet. and after 11:00 a.m. in [...] Local News |  Full Article

The National Hurricane Center has issued a Tropical Storm Warning and a Storm Surge Watch for all areas of the Outer Banks due to the expected impacts from an area of low pressure off the southeastern coast of the U.S. This developing system—which is currently identified as Potential Tropical Cyclone 16 by the National Hurricane Center, and which could [...] Local News |  Full Article

Heavy rains, rip currents, and large surf are likely along the Outer Banks as a low pressure system develops off the Southeast coast over the next couple of days and tracks toward the Carolinas through the weekend. A high risk of rip currents is forecast for all Outer Banks beaches beginning on Thursday, September 20. [...] Local News |  Full Article