North Carolina Arthur Damage Assessments Underway

By Andrew G. Simpson | July 7, 2014

Hurricane Arthur made landfall before midnight on July 3 near Cape Lookout, North Carolina, as a Category 2 hurricane. Maximum sustained winds at landfall were 100 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

State officials said no casualties have been reported and the earliest assessments indicated minimal damage.

“The storm’s northeast motion was roughly parallel to the coastline in the landfall region, which fortunately kept the stronger, right-hand side of the storm over water,” said Dr. Tim Doggett, assistant vice president and senior principal scientist at AIR Worldwide. “Arthur did not weaken much as it moved across the Outer Banks. ”

The storm made a second landfall near the Pea Life wildlife refuge in the northern Outer Banks.

“Although preliminary reports are very positive, it is going to take us a few days to fully comprehend the full impact of Hurricane Arthur,” said Mike Sprayberry, the state’s emergency management director on Friday. “We are working with local officials to conduct damage assessments and will continue to support counties with resource requests and recovery efforts.”

Damage assessments are ongoing. Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide said on Friday that initial damage reports include downed trees causing intermittent power outages, flooding, and beach erosion.

As of 9 a.m., Friday, the state said more than 44,000 customers were reported to be without power in the coastal counties, with the majority of customers affected in Carteret County. Ocracoke Island was also without power. Energy officials said all but about 10,000 of the affected homes had power restored by the afternoon.

Brunswick, Tyrrell, New Hanover, Dare, Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender and Hyde counties were under a state of emergency. Shelters were open throughout Beaufort, Carteret, Dare and Pamlico counties.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Arthur is the earliest hurricane to hit North Carolina since records began in 1851.

North Carolina Emergency Operations Center (EOC) personnel have been responding to county resource requests and deploying teams to conduct damage assessments. The state said its emergency response team would continue to work with its federal, state and local partners including FEMA, Red Cross, Baptist Men, utilities and private sector partners.

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