N.C. Highway 12 reopened in Ocracoke on Wednesday after flooding from the Nor’Easter over the weekend that brought high surf, coastal flooding and wind gusts up to 60 mph to the Outer Banks.
This comes just after portions of the highway near Hatteras reopened on Monday evening.
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Closures are not unfamiliar to this area due to overwash and flooding. According to Jamie Kritzer, a spokesperson for the NC Department of Transportation, seasons like this have become a familiar occurrence over the past decade or so.
“We are faced with climate changes that are bringing us more severe storms, more frequently,” Kritzer said. “They're here, they're here to stay, so it's certainly some hard discussions are being had about how do we build our infrastructure so it's resilient.”
Six beachfront homes collapsed into the ocean earlier in October as several hurricanes passed offshore, and officials said the combination of rain, overwash and winds could put more homes at risk.
Kritzer said ongoing studies are looking at short- and long-term solutions for Highway 12.