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Hurricane Maria is tracking up the east coast, and to ensure you are aware of the latest information from the coast we wanted to provide you a brief update from the beach.
As of 3 PM today the storm has weakened to a category 1 storm with highest reported winds at 80 miles per hour. Maria is expected to track due north and continue on its predicted path which will take the center of the storm close to the Outer Banks, but the storm is not expected to make landfall. All predictions show the storm taking a right turn once it approaches the outer banks and head out to sea to the north and east away from us. With that said however we do expect tropical storm force winds to arrive tomorrow (Tuesday) and continue through Wednesday along with rain. Conditions should clear up rapidly on Thursday.
The Outer Banks remains under a Tropical storm warning for all the properties Outer Banks Blue manages.
The local Dare County Emergency Management Control group has issued a mandatory evacuation order for Hatteras Island and a state of emergency has been declared for the area. The evacuation order went into effect at noon today. Earlier Hyde County officials declared a mandatory evacuation for Ocracoke Island effective at this morning. Hatteras Island and Ocracoke are very susceptible to tidal flooding and road closures from ocean over wash.
The control group for Dare County and for Currituck County will continue to monitor conditions, but no further evacuations are expect unless the storm changes track or strength.
Outer Banks Blue will continue to keep our guests that are on the OBX this week through our texting system and updating information here.
We request our guests to please secure any loose or light weight items on the exterior of the property and remove any deck flags to ensure the high winds which are expected do no damage. We appreciate your support and assistance in this situation. We also request that you ensure all doors are closed properly and windows are closed and locked.
We will pass along any updates only on an as needed basis (if the storm comes closer than expected, track changes, or effects on the Outer Banks are expected to be worse than predicted).
All the best from the beach!
