Governor Josh Stein has declared a State of Emergency for Highway 12 after a nor'easter washed out portions of the Outer Banks' critical road.
The highway remains completely closed between the Marc Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe with no current timeline for reopening.
Transportation officials report that continuous ocean overwash destroyed 1,800 feet of protective dunes and undermined 800 feet of pavement near the Pea Island Visitor Center.
Hatteras Island is under a local state of emergency, and visitors are banned from entering.
To maintain a connection to the mainland, the state has activated an emergency ferry service running between Stumpy Point and Rodanthe.
This is the second time in less than a month that a coastal storm has broken the highway, coming just weeks after crews finished $2.5 million in repairs from a late-September storm.
