A stretch of N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island is closed again after Thursday morning's high tide tore through the dune near the Pea Island Visitor Center and sent ocean water pouring across the highway. The closure runs between the Marc Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe, cutting off one of the Outer Banks' most flood-prone corridors just as officials brace for more of the same in the coming days.
The road shut down at 5:50 a.m. Thursday because of major ocean overwash following the high tide, according to WTKR. As Spectrum News reported, high tide impacted the dunes at the visitor center and caused the overwash that forced the closure, with NCDOT confirming plainly that “the road is closed from Basnight Bridge to Rodanthe.”
Governor Josh Stein amplified the warning Thursday, retweeting a post from NCDOT_NC12
that described the morning's high tide causing a breach in the dune at the Pea Island Visitor Center and the resulting major ocean overwash. The account, which posts NCDOT's real-time updates on the highway, said crews expect similar conditions during the next several high-tide cycles.
Crews Had Just Reinforced the Dune Line
The breach comes just days after crews worked to better fortify the dunes on Pea, Hatteras and Ocracoke islands ahead of an autumn nor'easter, the Spectrum News report noted. NCDOT crews had also been reinforcing dozens of yards of dune line between the Basnight Bridge and the Pea Island Visitor Center, per the WTKR account, and equipment was staged in vulnerable areas with crews on standby to respond wherever overwash breached the dune and hit the highway.
Officials had flagged the evening high-tide cycles from Wednesday through Friday as the period of greatest concern for hazardous highway conditions, according to the same WTKR report. NCDOT also indicated that a temporary closure of the Marc Basnight Bridge itself was likely if the ocean overwash worsened, though no bridge closure had been confirmed as of Thursday's reporting.
A Recurring Fight Along a Fragile Stretch
This isn't the first time this exact section of highway has needed emergency reinforcement. Coastal Review reported that N.C. Department of Transportation planned a $400,000 project to rebuild dunes and place sandbags along 1,100 feet of N.C. 12 near the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge visitor center, describing it as a temporary solution to protect the highway from ocean overwash caused by extreme tides and storms. NCDOT Division Engineer Win Bridgers said at the time that the work was necessary to keep the road open and accessible while officials pursue a more permanent solution.
The refuge itself long predates the highway's troubles: Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1938 to provide nesting, resting and wintering habitat for migratory birds, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Thursday's overwash is the latest reminder of how exposed that stretch of barrier island remains, even after recent dune work, as NCDOT continues to brace for the next high tide.
