Escape from Rodanthe 9/25/2008

Well we finally made it off the Outer Banks yesterday after a night of heavy rain and wind gusts 40-50 mph. It was a wild night and the coach was rocking all night. We got up in the morning and found that the RT 12 out of the Outer Banks north was closed again because of over wash and they didn't know when it would be open again. We called the NC Emergency Management Office and they said they hoped to have it open later in the morning but to call back about 11:00. We sat around deciding on our options of leaving right away and take a chance the road would open or staying another night. We decided to stay until we found out about the road and we called about 11:00 and sure enough they planned on opening the road about noon. The only thing was that they said we only had a 3-4 hour window of opportunity to leave as they expected the road to close again at high tide in the afternoon which was about 4:00. So we decided to escape and quickly packed up and hooked the car on the dolly and we were off about 11:30. We got to Rodanthe about noon and sure enough traffic was moving, although at a snail's pace, but it was moving. As we drove through the trouble spot we could see why the had to close the road as the water on the road still was baout 3-4" deep and the sand that had been scraped off the road earlier was piled along side the road 8-10' high. We finally made it past the flooded section and rove on into Oregon Inlet although we passed many many places where the ocean had over washed the road but not as bad as in Rodanthe. We drove on to our next stop at the Green Acres Campgrounds in Williamston and got all set up by 3:30. I washed the windows as they were absolutely filthy from the salt water and sand that had been blowing around for days. By then it was dinner time and we ate and then watched some TV. It was raining on and off ever since we got here and at times we had some torrential downpours. Well time to say until tomorrow and we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad


Picture List:1,2,3,4-Pictures of the wild ocean the morning we left the Outer Banks, 5-The line of traffic waiting to go through Rodanthe, 6-Standing water along the road in Rodanthe, 7,8-Trafic just waiting, 9-Starting through the trouble spot, 10,11,12,13-The piles of sand they had scraped off the road from the overwash, 14,15,16-Spots along RT 12 into Oregon Inlet where the ocean had washed over the dunes onto the road.