Hatteras locals getting ready for Dorian after a wait so long it feels getting ‘stalked by a sea turtle’

Sep. 5--Wesley Sigmon used duct tape to fasten plastic over a shelf of groceries in the Village Red & White Market.

He planned to sandbag the doors, too.

He hoped to protect his stock from leaks from above and floods from without.

It was just after 11 a.m. Thursday as the wind picked up and light rain fell. One of the first rain bands of Hurricane Dorian was passing over Hatteras Village.

Dorian had loomed and lingered for more than a week. Landfall on Hatteras Island was likely early Friday morning.

"I heard someone say, 'Waiting this out is like getting stalked by a sea turtle,'" Sigmon said.

A block away, Eddie Skakle was tying up the last of the 100 or so kayaks at his rental shop, A.S. Austin Co. The golf carts had all been moved to a higher lot closer to Buxton. A line of bicycles was stacked on the porch. He was pretty much ready for whatever Dorian brings.

"I've seen this before," he said. "You just wait, pray and know the Lord's will be done. God sends these disasters every once in a while so we can love each other and support each other."

The preparations were about done early Thursday. The storm packed 110 mph winds and was forecast to pass directly over Buxton and Hatteras Village.

The Hatteras Island villages were busy with activity. It looked like the majority of the locals were staying in spite of the mandatory evacuation. As usual, dozens of cars and boats were parked at the highest places like the Cape Hatteras Baptist Church in Frisco and along Park Road near the local airfield. Local customers were getting last-minute supplies and maybe a couple of sandwiches at Connor's Market in Buxton. The Cape Pines Motel handed its few renters a bucket and towels in case the water comes under the doors.

Rescue crews were ready with two Humvees and a Chevrolet Kodiak pickup truck equipped with four-wheel drive and winches, said Jack Scarborough, chief of the Hatteras Island Rescue Squad.

The Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative had crews stationed at strategic locations including Avon and Hatteras Village, spokeswoman Laura Ertle said.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation placed road graders and bulldozers near vulnerable areas in case sand blocked N.C. 12.

A big concern was the strong prospect that the ocean would breach the highway at one of the usual places, such as between Frisco and Hatteras Village or just south of Oregon Inlet.

Skakle shrugged off the concerns.

"If you're going to live on the Outer Banks, on the edge of hurricane alley, you got to get used to it," he said.

Jeff Hampton, 252-722-4760, [email protected]

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