Hurricane Dorian made landfall at Cape Hatteras at 8:35 a.m. today, according to the National Weather Service. Its winds were estimated at near 90 miles per hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane.
Closer to home, a northeast wind of 26 mph, and gusts of 39 mph, were registered at 9:15 a.m. in Manteo at the Dare County Regional Airport, according to the National Weather Service.
A flash-flood emergency is in effect for the Pamlico Sound in Hyde and Dare counties. (See graphic above.) I just received a report from a reader in Ocracoke that some people there have knee-deep water in their homes.
(Update: People are stranded in Ocracoke, inundated by flood waters and without power. The Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative reports on Twitter that the electricity is out throughout Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Repairs to broken transmission poles will not occur until the area is deemed safe for workers to enter.)
Dorian is continuing to move northeastward, but its speed has increased to 14 mph.
Dare County Emergency Management advises all residents to “stay indoors, shelter in place” throughout today, as the storm’s strong winds and heavy rains affect our area.
In a bulletin issued this morning at 7:45, DCEM also warns that water levels on the sounds are dropping, as “water is pushed away by the wind,” but when the winds shift, “the sound water will rapidly return, bringing extreme soundside flooding.”
Those of us who live on or near the Currituck Sound have witnessed this phenomenon before. DCEM advises that you may access flood gauges online to view water levels in real-time at fiman.nc.gov.
Contact information for reporting power outages and viewing power outage maps, etc., is available at darenc.com/hurricanedorian.
For updated weather forecasts, watches, and warnings from the National Weather Service, see http://www.weather.gov/mhx.
Please feel free to comment here on the conditions in your area. If you would like to send a photograph, please email it to ssbeaconeditor@gmail.com.
Stay safe!
(A reminder: The curfew is still in effect until noon and may be extended.)
Ann, 9/6/19
The Southern Shores Beacon 