NC 12 detour opens after storm damage leaves hundreds waiting for Outer Banks ferry

An approximately three-mile line of vehicles stretched through Rodanthe on Monday as hundreds of vacationers sought to board the emergency ferry leaving Hatteras Island on the North Carolina coast. 

Last week’s nor’easter — a coastal storm with the strongest winds blowing from the northeast — severely damaged portions of North Carolina Highway 12, the only road connecting Hatteras Island and the northern Outer Banks. 

Dare County officials declared a state of emergency for Hatteras Island on Saturday, barring visitors and non-resident property owners from entering. 

The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced it would open a temporary one-way gravel detour for NC 12 at the Pea Island Visitor Center on Wednesday, allowing northbound traffic through a single-lane stretch. For visitors who expected to leave Saturday, that meant days of uncertainty over food, medications, and responsibilities back on the mainland. 

On Sunday, NCDOT began operating the emergency ferry route between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point. Three vessels with room for about 25 to 30 vehicles, depending on the cars and trucks that are onboard, are transporting passengers back to the mainland. 

The fleet can move about 250 vehicles in 24 hours, according to Dare County, and the crossing itself takes about two hours. 

“There’s definitely just an air of frustration, and it’s understandable,” Island Free Press editor-in-chief Joy Crist said. “That frustration grows the closer you get to the front of the line, because that’s where people have been waiting 24 hours.”

Based on Hatteras Island, Crist has been reporting on the storm and its aftermath. She covered a Virginia couple who invited hundreds of other stranded visitors and local residents to their wedding on Saturday. 

Crist has also shared updates on the recovery process and talked to visitors waiting for the ferry.

“The silver lining of that is that there’s been so many local volunteers and organizations that have just been going up there and grilling out and handing out hot dogs and snacks and water,” she said. 

‘We’re dumping money into the ocean’: Outer Banks seeks state help for long-term NC 12 fix

Crist says closures of NC 12 happen fairly frequently — rain closed the highway earlier this summer, and overwash also happens occasionally. But the nor’easter did enough structural damage to the road to prompt the state to bring in emergency ferry service between Stumpy Point and Rodanthe, the first time that’s happened since underwater erosion caused the Bonner Bridge to close in December 2013. 

The agency announced Tuesday morning that NC 12 would open at 3 in the afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. 

The temporary one-way gravel detour will initially only carry northbound traffic, allowing visitors to leave the island. After the northbound traffic congestion subsides, southbound traffic will open, with alternating directions of one-way traffic. 

Dare County officials will announce when southbound traffic opens. There is no timeline for when the road will open for southbound traffic or when visitor access will be restored. 

NCDOT did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy, whose district covers the Outer Banks, said his office has been in touch with county and state officials about NC 12.

“While traffic is backed up and preventing many from traveling, it is vitally important that everyone work together during this critical time,” Murphy said on social media. “Emergency services must be able to reach those in need of medical attention quickly.”