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Crews work to clear NC 12 just north of Rodanthe Saturday morning, October 12. Courtesy NCDOT

NC 12 in the Mirlo area just north of Rodanthe Saturday, October 12. Courtesy Waters Edge, Rodanthe

NC 12 in the Mirlo area just north of Rodanthe Saturday, October 12. Courtesy Waters Edge, Rodanthe

NC 12 in the Mirlo area just north of Rodanthe Saturday, October 12. Courtesy Waters Edge, Rodanthe

NC 12 in the Mirlo area just north of Rodanthe Saturday, October 12. Courtesy Waters Edge, Rodanthe

The update posted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation Saturday morning October 12 states that “as expected, this morning’s high tide caused by Subtropical Storm Melissa has caused more dune breaches and deposited more water and sand on areas between the Basnight Bridge (Oregon Inlet) and Rodanthe.”

By late morning, work to clear the sand from NC 12 between the Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe had resumed. Crews are working on both ends in an attempt to open the road briefly before the next high tide cycle begins. “At this point, there is still no guarantee the road will reopen today,” NCDOT advised.

Good Morning from MP 38 1/2

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Sand was scraped back off the road during low tide yesterday afternoon, but the past two high tide cycles thwarted those efforts. #dunexobx #obx #nc12 pic.twitter.com/fV1bRE6IcF

— Michael Flynn (@RippleEnviro) October 12, 2019

The 7 p.m. ferry from Ocracoke to Swan Quarter is now full. NCDOT asks motors to not come to the Hatteras Terminal at 4:30 unless they already have a reservation for the 7 p.m. ferry from Ocracoke to Swan Quarter.

Overnight, Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative experienced an outage that impacted all of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. The 4:45 a.m. update from CHEC Saturday stated “Crews located a fault in the fuse at the Pea Island Visitor’s center and were able to energize the transmission before it shortly went back out. They are continuing to ride the line north to Oregon Inlet to locate any additional faults.”

CHEC’s 5:30 a.m. update indicated “This morning’s outages are being caused by salt contamination on the system. Several days of NE winds and no rain can cause salt to deposit and build up on the electrical system. This results in crackling, sparking, arching and occasionally power outages. Crews are continuing work to correct the problem.”

By 7 a.m., the Nags Head Fire Department was on the way to spray salt off the switch just south of Oregon Inlet and by 9 a.m., it was announced that transmission was restored to both Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.

Courtesy Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative

An update on conditions from the Dare County Sheriff’s Office late Saturday morning reports that in the area between Oregon Inlet and Mirlo, there are “numerous small dune beaches with larger breach and sand at Pea Island visitor building.” They say the Mirlo dune is completely washed out with two vehicles stranded and from the tri villages to Buxton, there is some water from overwash, but DCSO reports the area is passable.

For road conditions and information, call 511.

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