NAGS HEAD, N.C. — It’s a wait and see situation for people in Nags Head ahead of Hurricane Isaias.
Dare County is under a state of emergency.
But visitors like 7-year-old Larissa Rutt and her grandpa said they plan to wait for the storm to pass inside the family’s beach house. They’re visiting from Pennsylvania.
“Before we came here, I was way too scared to come out here until yesterday. I was scared of the storm,” said Larissa.
On Monday, Dare County Emergency Management doubled down and urged people not to underestimate the storm’s potential impact. It could bring wind gusts of up to 70 mph, storm surge, and tornadoes.
Ocean conditions are expected to worsen in the coming days, and emergency officials are urging people to stay out of the water over the next few days.
Drew Pearson, the director of Dare County Emergency Management, said the storm could lead to flooding inside of homes and may shut down NC-12 along Hatteras Island. Hatteras is currently under a mandatory evacuation.
“It’s not just a typical day at home, this is a tropical weather event that is gonna be impacting our county and our visitors need to be mindful that now is not the time to drive around when the winds are picking up just stay where you and stay safe,” said Pearson.
He added, “We have our crews ready to go, we’ve brought in additional resources, high-wheel vehicles from the state to help us out. We’ve made the necessary preparations to make sure we’re ready for the storm tonight, we hope our visitors and residents have done the same.”