As Hurricane Erin approaches the North Carolina coast, the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division is assisting with the evacuation of all visitors and residents from Ocracoke Island.
Hyde County has issued a mandatory evacuation order for island visitors that began at 8 p.m. Sunday. A mandatory evacuation for residents begins tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.
“While we don’t expect Hurricane Erin to make landfall on the Outer Banks, there will likely be large waves, ocean overwash and major coastal flooding that impact Highway 12,” said Ferry Division Director Jed Dixon. “We hope everyone will heed the evacuation orders for their own safety.”
Only residents, homeowners or vendors with an Ocracoke re-entry sticker on their vehicles will be allowed on ferries inbound to Ocracoke. No visitors will be allowed access to Ocracoke Island until the evacuation order is lifted.
Priority boarding will be suspended for all vessels leaving Ocracoke, and tolls have been waived for ferries heading from Ocracoke to Cedar Island or Swan Quarter.
The Ocracoke-Hatteras, Ocracoke-Cedar Island and Ocracoke-Swan Quarter routes will run their published schedules until the evacuation is complete. Service on the Ocracoke Express passenger ferry, which runs between the village of Ocracoke and Hatteras Island, is suspended until further notice.
The National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood watch for Ocracoke Island from Tuesday afternoon through Friday evening.
Evacuation procedures will remain in effect for all Ocracoke-bound ferries until Hyde County emergency officials lift their evacuation orders.
For real-time travel information, please check NCDOT’s DriveNC.gov and the agency’s social media accounts. People can also receive text or email notifications on ferry schedules and changes through the Ferry Information Notification System, or FINS.
The post N.C. Ferry Division assists in Ocracoke Island evacuation appeared first on Island Free Press.
Add to favoritesCredit: Original content published here.
