By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The North Carolina Outer Banks were battered for a second day as high winds and coastal flooding closed more road sections on Friday with weather forecasters extending a flood warning into the weekend, officials said.
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North Carolina officials said the impacts of the storm were likely to continue through the next few high-tide cycles while a coastal flood warning was extended into Saturday morning for Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands.
Flooding on Friday closed N.C. 12 from Pony Pens to the ferry dock in Ocracoke.
The coastal flood warning — predicting large breaking waves of 10 to 15 feet in the surf zone — was originally set to expire Friday.
Ocean waves up to 4-feet deep continued to cover N.C. 12 near Rodanthe on Friday and dunes that were visible Thursday had vanished, state officials said.
Outer Banks crews drove a dump truck into waves Friday morning — dumping sand onto a stretch of the broken pavement an effort to slow the overwash.
“There is currently no timeline on reopening the highway,” the North Carolina Department of Transportation said.
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NC 12 on Pea Island. NCDOT image -
NC 12 in the Canal Zone on Friday as an NCDOT truck dumps sand during the storm. NCDOT image -
NC 12 under 4 feet of water on Friday. NCDOT image
N.C. 12 was breached on Ocracoke Island where a small berm of sand finally gave way to waves and water flooded some areas.
“NC-12 remains closed from the Basnight Bridge to Rodanthe. Low-lying property, including homes, businesses, and some critical infrastructure will be inundated,” the National Weather Service in Morehead City said in the warning.
Flooding over N.C. 12 even extended into a new county with part of the highway covered in Cedar Island in Carteret County.
Authorities warned Thursday that homes in the Buxton area might collapse during the storm — as four others already had just this year. However, there were no reports as of Friday about structure collapses.
“We’ve been coming here for 27 years, I believe, and usually, we would leave before a nice storm comes, [but] this one caught us by surprise,” Frisco homeowner Holly Krauss told WAVY-TV about the storm. “It’s only been a couple hours, so panic has not set in yet. I know the crews will work hard to get the road back together so people can move on and off.”
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