Nor'easter Brings Hurricane-Force Winds To Coast


NAGS HEAD, N.C. -- Nasty weather hit the Outer Banks as a storm system pushed through North Carolina, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and driving rain that forced the rescue of two sailors.

A gust of 115 mph was reported Friday on Ocracoke Island at the state ferry docks, said Tony Spencer, Hyde County emergency management coordinator.


Seas were reported at 20 feet at Diamond Shoals off Hatteras Island and 14 feet off Duck, on the northern Outer Banks.

The Coast Guard said it rescued two men from a sailboat 55 miles east of Cape Lookout on Saturday.

Their 40-foot sailboat, At Ease, was caught in the rough water after leaving Newport News, Va., on Thursday headed to Charleston, S.C.

Robert Cummings, 40, the vessel owner from Newport News, Va., and Jerry McCarthy, 35, from Charleston, S.C., were aboard the sailboat when it had engine problems and a hatch was knocked out by a wave. The men told the Coast Guard that the boat was rolled by waves that knocked them overboard at least twice.

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer was lowered into the 15- to 20-foot seas and 30- to 35-knot winds and the men jumped off the boat and were hoisted into a helicopter.

"These guys were exceptionally well-prepared for the emergency they wound up facing," said Lt. Andy Barrow, one of the helicopter pilots that hoisted the men. "They each had on a survival suit ... and during the night, they were tethered to the boat, which probably saved their lives when the boat rolled and they were thrown overboard."

Robert Frederick, National Weather Service forecaster at the Newport office, said the low-pressure system deepened more than forecasters had predicted, creating more powerful winds.

Nearly 5 inches of rain fell on Hatteras Island by 2 p.m. Friday, Frederick said.

Soundside flooding and ponded rainwater made N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island impassable, Spencer said, and about 18 inches of rainwater flooded the streets in the island village. After two trips in the early morning, rough seas and strong winds finally forced ferry service to stop.

About a foot of wind-driven sand piled on N.C. 12 in Buxton, forcing road workers in the early afternoon to clear the pavement to allow traffic to get through.

Farther north, just south of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, two tractor-trailers got stuck in the sand, blocking traffic from about noon to 3 p.m., said Sandy Sanderson, Dare County emergency management director.