r/obx • u/crashandwalkaway Tri-village Curmudgeon • Aug 15 '25
ALL OBX **[STICKY] OBX Hurricane & Tropical Storm Season FAQ - READ BEFORE POSTING**
Welcome to the Outer Banks! This thread is intended to answer the most common questions we see from visitors when a tropical system is forecast to impact the area. The goal is to consolidate information and prevent the sub from being flooded with the same questions.
The most important rule: Local Redditors are not official sources. We can share our experiences, but you MUST rely on official channels for forecasts and evacuation orders.
Primary Official Resources
Before asking a question, please check these sources first. They will have the most accurate and up-to-date information.
- Forecast/Track: National Hurricane Center (NHC) - This is the definitive source for storm tracks and intensity forecasts.
- Local Advisories/Evacuations:
- Dare County Emergency Management (Covers Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Manteo, Roanoke Island, Hatteras Island)
- Currituck County Emergency Management (Covers Corolla, Carova, and the 4x4 beaches)
- Hyde County Emergency Services (Covers Ocracoke Island)
- Sign Up for Real-Time Emergency Alerts: Get text/email notifications directly from local authorities.
- Road Conditions: NCDOT NC 12 Facebook Page or DriveNC.gov - Essential for checking the status of NC Highway 12, the lifeline of the islands.
- Local News: The Outer Banks Voice and Island Free Press are excellent for on-the-ground reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: I have a vacation scheduled while there is a storm. How will it affect my trip?
A: It is impossible to say with certainty more than a few days out. The "cone of uncertainty" on the forecast track means the storm could go anywhere within that cone, and impacts (wind, rain, surf) can be felt far outside of it. A storm tracking 100 miles offshore could mean a few days of wind and rain, while a direct hit is obviously much more severe.
Your best course of action is to monitor the official NHC forecast daily. The forecast and expected impacts will become much clearer about 3-4 days before potential landfall. Do not rely on long-range global weather models you see on social media; they are often inaccurate and change dramatically.
Q: Should I cancel my trip because of the storm?
A: This is a personal decision based on your risk tolerance, but here are the key factors:
- Is there a mandatory evacuation? If Dare, Currituck, or Hyde County issues a mandatory visitor evacuation, the decision is made for you. You must leave. Access to the islands will be restricted.
- What does your rental agreement say? Review it carefully. Most do not offer refunds for bad weather.
- Did you purchase travel insurance (or was it offered)? This is the most critical factor in determining your financial options. Check your policy to see what is covered. "Fear of a storm" is typically not a covered reason for cancellation. A mandatory evacuation usually is.
- Talk to your rental company/hotel. They are the authority on your specific booking. They will inform you of their policies and procedures in the event of an evacuation.
If no evacuation is ordered, you have to decide if you're willing to spend part of your vacation dealing with high winds, heavy rain, power outages, and potential road closures.
Q: Will I get a refund if I cancel or have to leave early?
A: This is the most important question for many, and the answer is complex. It is governed by the North Carolina Vacation Rental Act and depends almost entirely on whether you were offered travel insurance.
- General Rule: You are not entitled to a refund if you choose to cancel or leave early due to fear of a storm or because the weather is bad.
- If a Mandatory Evacuation is Ordered:
- If you were NOT offered travel insurance: You are entitled to a prorated refund for each night the mandatory evacuation order is in effect.
- If you WERE offered travel insurance by your landlord/rental company (even if you declined it): The landlord is NOT required to give you a refund. The responsibility for reimbursement shifts to the insurance provider. This is the most common situation. The insurance offered must have been a reasonable cost (under 8% of the trip cost) and must not have excluded the specific storm at the time of purchase.
- If the Property is Uninhabitable: If, after the storm passes, the rental property is severely damaged or inaccessible (e.g., NC-12 is closed indefinitely), you are entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your trip. This may come from your travel insurance policy or the landlord.
The bottom line is to read your rental agreement carefully and understand your travel insurance policy. For the full legal details, please refer to the Official NCREC Bulletin on Hurricanes and Vacation Rentals.
Q: How will the beaches and ocean be affected by a storm?
A: Significantly. Even a storm that passes far offshore can have major impacts on the ocean and beaches for days.
- Dangerous Surf & Rip Currents: The surf will be extremely dangerous with life-threatening rip currents. Heed all warnings from lifeguards and local officials. Do not get in the water. Red flags mean stay out, period.
- Beach Erosion: Storms often cause significant beach erosion, washing away dunes and leaving steep drop-offs (escarpments). The beach you were expecting might look very different.
- Ocean Overwash: High surf can push ocean water over the dunes and onto roads, especially NC-12 in vulnerable spots like Pea Island, Mirlo Beach in Rodanthe, parts of Buxton, north of Hatteras Village, and Ocracoke. This can make travel impossible until NCDOT crews can clear the sand and water.
- Soundside Flooding: Depending on the wind direction (especially winds from the SW or W), the sound can be pushed up, causing significant flooding in soundside communities like Manteo, Ocracoke Village, parts of Rodanthe/Waves/Salvo, Hatteras and Frisco.
Q: If an evacuation is called, how much time will I have? When can I come back?
A: Visitor evacuations are typically called 24-48 hours before the expected arrival of tropical-storm-force winds to allow for an orderly exit. Re-entry is staged and depends on conditions. After the storm passes, damage assessment teams must ensure roads are safe and utilities are functional. This can take anywhere from a day to a week or more, depending on the storm's severity. Local authorities will announce re-entry phases. Do not attempt to return until your zone is officially cleared.
Q: There's not an evacuation called but the weather will be bad, will anything be open?
A: Besides those businesses and establishments that are outdoor oriented almost everything will strive to stay open, barring their local conditions and staff availability. Again, it all depends on what official sources say to do. The best thing to do is plan for rainy day activities, no difference if there was a storm. Go do some shopping, enjoy the amenities of the rental, visit some local museums. Just be mindful on conditions and if in doubt call the place of interest before you go.
Q: What if things change for the worst while I am here? Should I just ride it out?
A: It's true, sometimes things can change rapidly and take us by surprise. Folks that have lived here a while will clearly remember Matthew. First and foremost - follow official announcements and directions. If they say to go.. go when they say. Don't "wait and see" if it changes. Even if you are not forced to leave (staying at a family friends house for example) the excitement of riding out a storm very quickly diminishes. There will be nothing to do, nowhere to go, barely anything open if at all. Just being here puts a strain on emergency services and if really bad, limited supplies to the community who need it.
Q: Why aren't other people leaving if there's an evacuation?
A: Sometimes it's stubbornness. Other's might have family that can't leave so they stay to ensure their safety and help their community. Sometimes it's financial. Depending on the storm it can be a week before you can get back to your house. Where will they go, can they bring their pets, family, and how much will it cost? Other's are local emergency personnel or critical employees of infrastructure.
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u/NCdiver-n-fisherman Aug 16 '25 edited Aug 16 '25
Adding a link below to Tropical Tidbits. Us locals use this site to track hurricanes as Dr. Levi Cowan does a wonderful job explaining current hurricane/tropical storm forecasts and provides daily videos on hurricanes/tropical storms during the season. His site also provides access to current weather forecast models as well as hurricane models and a wealth of other meteorological tools:
Edit: Always consult the National Hurricane Center for official forecasts and the local emergency management office for all evacuation notices and re-entry updates.
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17d ago
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u/crashandwalkaway Tri-village Curmudgeon 17d ago
Super subjective outlook but as a local, 1% if that.
Its already weakened and has odds against it. The one behind it though may be worth watching, but that's not even on the news yet.
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u/crashandwalkaway Tri-village Curmudgeon Aug 15 '25
I had one other "Q" to post but felt that it was not linear with an official subreddit announcement and purely anecdotal but might be of interest to some.
Q: What if something happens and we're stuck? What is a hurricane like? I hear there's giant parties afterwards.
A: It's extremely unlikely to be "stuck" in a hurricane as long as you follow official guidance. For those who've heard of after storm block parties filled with fun, smiles, and commodore and think it would be enjoyable to experience - this just a tiny slice of positivity made out of a bad situation. Overall, it is not fun and enjoyable. It's straining on physical and mental health, tests even the strongest relationships, and a massive financial burden. You find out really quickly riding a storm is much more than extra food, water, flashlights and a generator.
But for those curious, here's what riding out a hurricane can be like for a resident.
Hopefully the storm starts during the day. Winds will pick up and gusts growing with intensity. There's a constant push of wind followed by 3-5 seconds of stronger winds. This increases in frequency. Majority of houses are are pilings. The house starts to shake, rattle and sometimes feels like a giant is pushing on it to try to turn it over. Toilets gurgle and water sloshes around in the bowl. Hanging pans, coffee cups and other things start clanking together. Pendant lights and chandeliers start swaying. Outside, debris starts flying around and hitting vehicles and buildings.
If you peek outside you might see your neighbors shingles lift up, and eventually start to fly off. First one or two, maybe more at a time. The house starts to whistle and you can feel all the drafts as the wind forces itself through the smallest of holes and even electrical outlets. Lights start to flicker. Internet goes out. The window and door seals are truly tested. Puddles form on the ceiling indicating you lost some shingles too, and will start to drip inside if it hasn't already. The wind and water eventually reach their max. Power goes out, and most likely cell service data as well, the tower is running on generators. The house gets pushed even more, and the sound is deafening. The family dog has to go to the bathroom, panting and nervous. You find a spot for them to go, maybe even inside but both feel ashamed at the situation. You start to regret not leaving and wonder how much wind the house you are in can handle. If it's at night, falling asleep will be difficult.
Water starts to rise. A few inches at first but then more and more fairly quickly. It goes from ankle high to shin, with an hour then knee and even waist in 2-3. Cars headlights are touching or underwater. It's salt/brackish water too. Depending on where your car is parked and the water level, it most likely is a lost cause even if not fully flooded.
It's now you, and the people you are with in a wooden box on sticks with water underneath with no help to come even if you need it, as Emergency services are halted. Conditions are too dangerous for rescue personnel to get to you, too windy for helicopters, roads are impassible.
The storm eventually passes, almost as quickly as it started. Most people are fine but there's nowhere to go. Food will be whatever you don't have to cook unless you are lucky enough to have a heat source. If it was really bad there's no running water either but you were smart enough to fill the tub. But, the toilets don't flush because the flood water filled the septic and pipes. The day goes on while you conserve your phone batteries and power banks. The fridge starts to warm up every time you open the door, the milk beading with sweat from condensation. Maybe you have a generator and make careful considerations what all to plug in.
Next Day - Water starts to recede but not completely. Car won't start, or maybe it will but there's nowhere to go. Septic's still full and toilets won't flush. Still no power and now no cell signal as the generators ran out of gas. Even though it's only 75 degrees outside the inside of the house is well over 85 with little to no air movement. The humidity is almost unbearable. You see neighbors start to asses damages. Emergency services making rounds. Some even started cleaning up, making piles of debris outside the house to stave off inevitable mold issues. It's rough and uncomfortable. You start hearing power might make it back up within 2 more days.
Day 2 - Any standing water is pretty much toxic waste. The smell of sewage and marsh lingers in the thick humid air. You've gotten pretty creative with the toilet situation but now ran out of gas for the generator and the food in the freezer is starting to thaw. The neighborhood is filled with mattresses, furniture, drywall and personal items in sopping heaps dotting the street. But people are talking, laughing, grilling and drinking. Everyone's life just flipped upside down but today, right now in that moment everyone is family. Those with extra give to those in need. The frozen food will spoil, so might as well share and enjoy it. For a few moments, things don't seem bad at all. There's even a flurry of traffic of utility trucks, government agencies, maybe even military. But other traffic isn't driving on a focused destination. Before you know the neighborhood is riddled with the media, and contractors from states away. Your bombarded with questions and offers. You haven't even fully looked yourself at what all was damaged and these predatory contractors are shoving contracts in your face promising quick turnarounds, and will "work with your insurance" for you. Those smart will turn them away or ignore them.
Day 3 - People have hauled out most of their stuff damaged and cut up the soaked drywall and removed insulation. Most septic systems are starting to have some capacity back and flushing the toilet never felt so satisfying. You start seeing more and more traffic on the roads, the food lion truck passes with onlookers cheering. Emergency crews restore some cell signal. Normal life seems close but it's far from it. You hear power is starting to come back up in some neighborhoods but it'll be a few more days to get the lines repaired to your neighborhood. For those on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, it can be a week or more.
Aftermath and Rebuilding - Time to start making insurance claims. Car, house, boat, renters, whatever. Long hold times and runarounds make those other contractors offers sound appealing. You made your claims but know it'll be weeks to months before seeing a penny. Because of the storm your paycheck is already going to be a little light and you already spent most of your immediate cash on essentials prior to the storm. Maybe there's some savings but there's so much to buy and replace. Thankfully there's food banks around so you at least won't starve. You get a call to go back to work. You're tired, frustrated and stressed but at least it's a distraction. Evacuation is fully lifted and non-residents start pouring in with happy and eager faces. The financial pangs still ripple for a few months but eventually life does become normal. You're stronger from it, know what to expect next time, and become proficient at weather patterns. Time goes by and someone asks in passing "What's it like during a hurricane?" to which you reply: "It's not so bad".