MANTEO, N.C. — Depending on where you were as Hurricane Erin passed by the coast, you might have experienced a severe storm or maybe nothing at all. For some people in Manteo, there were even positives tied to the storm.
Hannah O'Neill, a mother of three who has lived in Manteo all her life, said the small town often sees the effects of hurricanes, like other parts of North Carolina and Virginia.
However, this time around, Manteo saw minimal impact from Hurricane Erin.
"It was just very windy. Luckily, we didn't have a lot of rain but lots of wind, lots of ocean overwash, especially on the northern beaches, and I've seen stuff down south in Buxton and Hatteras has gotten a lot of washover as well. A lot of those dunes are gone, but luckily, up this way, we were fortunate," O'Neill said.
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O'Neill said sometimes Manteo takes in people from other areas who are trying to escape the impacts of a storm.
"We are the least likely to get hit as bad, but it's not impossible. You just never know, especially when the storm takes a certain turn and the wind changes, and the soundside could flood, so we are vulnerable in every direction. It just depends on where it comes from," O'Neill said.
When people evacuate to Manteo, it brings more visitors along with a cash flow, according to business owner Tory Schollaert of Bloom Boutique.
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"It was a great few days to shop because the weather wasn't dangerous, but you couldn't be at the beach," Schollaert said. "I think a little part of me is exhausted from the season, and I wouldn't have minded a hurricane day, but it was a good day for business."
She said she and others were prepared to put out the closed sign for this storm, mostly due to the flooding the area around her shop will sometimes endure.
"We're very vulnerable to flooding, but it's really the wind-driven soundside flooding myself and several other local businesses watched the winds, and we saw that they were going to be north or northeast, and that does not bring up the water here," Schollaert said.
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While her store wasn't damaged by Erin, she said it was six years ago.
"When I first moved in, the water was a few feet high in here," Schollaert said.
That didn't happen this time around, but if a hurricane did impact Manteo, O'Neill said many businesses would manage.
"It's not good for businesses, but if there is the hurricane happening, a lot of businesses manage. They do well and then people always come back after too," O'Neill said.
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