Mandatory Evacuation of Ocracoke Island!

Ah, I loooooooooooove hurricanes. Hurricane Earl is heading to North Carolina, near my old stomping ground. I remember how excited I would get about tropical storms and hurricanes, though I never witnessed a hurricane first hand the years I lived on the Outer Banks, just lots of tropical storms, which were pretty exciting too. I remember my boss letting me leave work to go watch the surf from tropical storm Gustav - just awesome!



Overwash fans are the coolest. Here is one from Hurricane Isabel in 2003 on Ocracoke Island. I visited there shortly after the storm and was just in awe of the overwash fans and dune breaches. Hurricane Earl is now threatening Ocracoke Island. It'll be interesting to see the impact that it has.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ocracoke Island, it is part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is a natural barrier island with some of the most beautiful beaches on the East Coast. To reach Ocracoke, you must leave from the town of Hatteras by ferry and cross Hatteras Inlet. To learn more about Ocracoke, visit http://www.ocracokevillage.com/.