NEWS: North Carolina Braces for Hurricane Alex

The first hurricane of the year "Alex", with winds reaching 100mph, is on track to hit the easternmost portions of North Carolina, but its NE direction should keep the core offshore. Heavy rainfall and five foot storm surge is expected. The storm was upgraded to category two storm but is not expected to get any stronger. (img:KABC)



Quite alot of the residents are going to "rough" this one out as the path takes this storm on a northeasterly track. Many are taking the increased waves as an opportunity to "catch a wave".
and many tourists are still in the area. Emergency teams are taking the storm more serious and have plans in place should the storm cause more than expected damage to the Carolina coast.

Related News Links:
abcnews.go.com
abclocal.go.com
www.news8austin.com
rdu.news14.com

[edit on 8/3/04 by JacKatMtn]

The eye has now passed Hatteras and appears to have stayed mostly offshore.

See: www.ssd.noaa.gov...

MSNBC reports:

The storm�s sustained wind around its center had accelerated to nearly 100 mph by 1 p.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center said.

On shore, rain fell in a steady, diagonal downpour at Rodanthe, and up to 6 inches of rain was possible in some areas, the National Weather Service said. The agency reported an 83 mph wind gust on Ocracoke Island and a 72 mph gust at Buxton on Hatteras Island.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Power is out on Hatteras Island and I haven't seen any official windspeed reports for the last two hours.

Also, see this discussion of whether public safety officials underreacted to this event.



4:00pm update:

Here are some comments from special statements out of the Moorehead City NWS office:

HURRICANE FORCE WIND GUSTS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE OUTER BANKS FROM OCRACOKE TO OREGON INLET THROUGH 5 PM. AT 115 PM A 120 MPH WIND GUST WAS RECORDED AT THE OCRACOKE FERRY TERMINAL. AT 209 PM A 102 MPH WIND GUST WAS RECORDED IN HATTERAS VILLAGE. SUSTAINED WINDS OF NEAR 60 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 80 MPH WERE CONTINUING BETWEEN OCRACOKE AND OREGON INLET.





[edit on 3-8-2004 by x_y_no]