HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. — A North Carolina State Trooper and a "road closed" sign greeted many people on July 24 as they arrived in Rodanthe in the late morning. This came after driving south through flooded roads in the canal zone of N.C. 12 on the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.
This closure is the direct reason for a community meeting being held by Dare County and the North Carolina Department of Transportation on Tuesday night in Buxton.
"We deserve a free and open Highway 12," said Marcie Mulder, a Hatteras Island resident and business owner.
Mulder owns Buxton Munch with her husband and was at the restaurant on July 24 when the news spread that because of flooding on N.C. 12, the Marc Basnight Bridge was closed.
"I had guests that were freaking out because they were trapped on the island," said Mulder.
This bridge being closed for Hatteras Island neighbors is nothing new, but it's usually because of ocean overwash from storms offshore. To see it closed because of rainfall came as a shock.
"For rainfall alone to create that much flooding, that blew our minds," said Mulder.
Dare County and NCDOT are now hosting a community meeting about N.C. 12 closures. Tim Hass, NCDOT Division 1 communications officer, said it's directly because of this specific flooding event.
"It is a direct result of what happened toward the end of July when the Pea Island area got inundated by several inches of rainfall, which caused the road to become flooded," said Hass.
Many neighbors News 3 spoke with can understand when the road closes because of ocean overwash, but having it close for rainfall was frustrating. Hass explained what led to that decision.
"No one wants to close this road at any time. The only times we close the road are when it is absolutely the public safety. We had cars that were stalling out in the rainwater. We had cars that were sliding off the road in that rainwater. So we had to close that road for those five hours," said Hass.
Hass said he also understands the frustration about the closure, especially on that day. But he said NCDOT is working on potentially having a solution in the future.
"I understand there is also some comments about can't we pump the water out? Well, right now that answer is no. But we are in preliminary discussions with the regulatory agencies that may at some point allow us to do that if that situation were to arise again," said Hass.
Hass went further about what needs to be done for NCDOT to get the green light to be able to pump water off the road in case this happens again in the future.
"There are several permissions that we would have to get to be able to pump rainwater into the Sound or into the ocean. So we are in preliminary discussions at this point to do that. I'm sure there would be stipulations as to when we could do that, how severe the flooding has to be, and so on. Preliminary discussions are taking place, and we're hoping that that will help if God forbid, we get in a situation like that again," said Hass.
Hass reaffirmed NCDOT's commitment to keeping Hatteras Island's lifeline open. But for neighbors like Mulder, she feels this is a continuing problem that needs to be solved sooner rather than later.
"Not knowing whether you're ever going to be able to get on and off this road for who knows how long, when they've let it get into this bad of condition, that even makes it worse," said Mulder.
In the information for the public meeting in Buxton, the press release states:
"The meeting follows the temporary closure of N.C. Highway 12 on July 24, 2026, when intense rainfall caused significant flooding that made portions of the roadway unsafe and impassable leading to NCDOT to close N.C. Highway 12 from the Basnight Bridge to Rodanthe.
"Representatives from Dare County and NCDOT will review the circumstances surrounding closures of N.C. Highway 12 and discuss existing procedures for monitoring roadway conditions and communicating potential and active highway closures with the public. The discussion will also provide an opportunity to gather community feedback and explore ways to enhance communication before, during and after future weather-related closures of N.C. Highway 12."
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
