Post by M. Hawbaker on Sept 6, 2019 20:44:11 GMT
ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. (AP) — A weakened Hurricane Dorian flooded homes on North Carolina's Outer Banks on Friday with a fury that took even storm-hardened residents by surprise, forcing people to climb into their attics. Hundreds were feared trapped by high water, and neighbors used boats to rescue one another.
Sheriff's officials rushed medics and other rescuers to Ocracoke Island — accessible only by boat or air — to reach those who made the mistake of defying mandatory evacuation orders along the 200-mile (320-kilometer) ribbon of low-lying islands that stick out from the Eastern Seaboard like the side-view mirror on a car.
"We were all on social media laughing about how we'd done well and there was really no flooding at all, just rain, typical rain," Steve Harris, who has lived on Ocracoke Island for most of the last 19 years. And then, "the wall of water just came rushing through the island."
"And it just started looking like a bathtub, very quickly," said Harris, who was safe in his third-floor condo. "We went from almost no water to 4 to 6 feet in a matter of minutes."
"And it just started looking like a bathtub, very quickly," said Harris, who was safe in his third-floor condo. "We went from almost no water to 4 to 6 feet in a matter of minutes."
