RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCT) – State transportation officials are warning drivers about traveling on N.C. 12 along North Carolina’s Outer Banks this weekend as a powerful storm is bringing dangerous winds and heavy rain to the coast.
N.C. 12 was open, but a 13.5-mile stretch closed at 5 p.m. Saturday from the Bonner Bridge to Rodanthe because of sand and water on the road.
“People traveling should be patient and never drive through flooded roads or rushing water,” the NCDOT said in a news release, adding that any N.C. 12 drivers should be “extremely cautious.”
Most flood-related drownings occur when someone drives through standing or rushing water, officials noted.
Saturday morning, crews with the N.C. Department of Transportation were using front-end loaders and other equipment to clear sand that was blown onto N.C. 12 on the northern part of Hatteras Island in the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.
The road has not experienced ocean overwash and is open, but conditions could worsen and force the road’s closure before the storm exits the coast Sunday night into Monday morning.
The storm is forecast to bring heavy rain and winds to coastal North Carolina throughout the weekend.
N.C. 12 is expected to reopen Sunday by 5 p.m.
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