Sections of scenic Highway 12 along the Outer Banks had to be closed this weekend and Monday as the Atlantic overwashed the road.

What You Need To Know

  • The impacted areas are mainly near Rodanthe and Ocracoke

  • Swells from Hurricane Teddy combined with persistent winds and higher than normal tides have created the problems

  • Ocean overwash of Highway 12 is expected to happen more frequently in the future

Ocean overwash has become a common occurrence when storms move across the barrier islands that make up the Outer Banks. This time, though, it's not because of a storm directly impacting the state.

Hurricane Teddy is partly to blame, but it is located east of Bermuda Monday. Swells from the storm combined with a persistent northeasterly wind and high astronomical tides has created the coastal flooding.

The greatest impacted areas by the ocean overwash has been near Rodanthe and Ocracoke.

These types of scenes are expected to happen more frequently due to a rising sea level and more intense storms.

On a recent visit to Ocracoke as the hurricane season was just starting, residents there told us they must rethink their transportation infrastructure to adapt for the changing climate.