Florence’s Beating Of NC Barrier Islands Begins: Video, Photos

OUTER BANKS, NC — And so it begins. By midday Thursday, rain bands and surf swells descended on the easternmost areas of North Carolina and shut down parts of a major highway along the barrier islands, as Hurricane Florence pushed closer to shore.

Shortly before 1 p.m., state transportation officials announced that NC Hwy 12 was closed south of the Oregon Inlet due to ocean overwash that make the road impassible.

By daybreak Thursday, wind speeds had slowed down for the monster storm, however the development only made it that much more dangerous, state officials warned.Overnight, Florence was downgraded to a Category 2 storm, with sustained winds of 110 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. By 8 a.m. Sept. 13, the storm was about 170 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, and about 220 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C., delivering “squally rain bands with tropical-storm force winds” to the Outer Banks, the advisory said.

“Get yourself to a safe place and stay there,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday.

“Wind speed may have dropped some from yesterday, but we traded that for a larger wind field,” that extends 200 miles, NC Gov. Roy Cooper said in a press conference Thursday morning.

Here are some images coming in from North Carolina’s barrier islands:

Storm surge already over taking the homes here on the barrier island. #hurricaneflorence #ncwx pic.twitter.com/XWlFmopp8W
— Jeff Gammons (@StormVisuals) September 13, 2018

Photo via NC Department of Transportation: Hwy NC 12 north of Hatteras Village