Only road access onto North Carolina island reopens after Arthur

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. -- North Carolina's popular beach towns began returning to the business of recreation Saturday, after Arthur lashed the state's coast with forceful winds and heavy rain and churned northward without leaving a trail of significant damage.

Arthur was downgraded to a tropical storm early Saturday, but the storm's near-hurricane-strength winds slammed into Canada's maritime provinces, causing 113,000 customers of Nova Scotia Power to lose electricity. The utility in New Brunswick reported 86,000 outages. The storm has caused flight cancellations and delays at the region's largest airport in Halifax.

New England largely was spared from damage by the storm, but about 19,000 people in Maine and 1,600 in Vermont were without power after high winds and heavy rains pounded the region. There were reports of localized flooding in coastal areas of Massachusetts, and the Nova Star Ferry suspended service Friday and Saturday morning because of dangerous seas. No injuries or deaths have been reported.

The hurricane's effects in North Carolina mostly were confined to Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, and some vacationers already were back on beaches to the north and south Friday. But the ocean churned by Arthur remained dangerous Saturday, with the risk of rip currents able to wash the strongest swimmer to sea. That didn't stop thousands of people from enjoying the sun and sand and leaving lifeguards to remind beach-goers of the danger.

"We're going to try to keep people out of the water and keep them safe," said David Elder, lifeguard supervisor for the town of Kill Devil Hills. "However, if conditions abate, I'd be glad to drop" the no-swimming warning. More than 600 of the 700 lifeguard rescues by Elder's department last year were required because of rip currents, he said.

The only road onto Hatteras Island was reopened to all traffic Saturday afternoon, hours after permanent residents first were allowed to return. The island had been closed to visitors since early Thursday. With many weeklong cottage rentals running Saturday to Saturday, local businesses were hoping to salvage the second half of the holiday weekend.

A small section of fragile North Carolina Highway 12 buckled after being submerged by churning waters during the Category 2 hurricane. Officials also tested the two-mile-long Bonner Bridge onto the island to ensure it was safe for traffic.

The road also suffered extensive flooding in some areas and officials warned drivers to watch for pockets of sand on the highway.

Farther south, Ocracoke Island's electricity distribution system was badly damaged by Arthur, leading officials to order residents to quit using air conditioners and water heaters so that generator-supplied power could provide refrigeration and other necessities during a cycle of planned outages. A nightly curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. was declared until power was fully restored. Vacationers were being coaxed to leave with the offer of free ferry rides out.

Parts of Rodanthe and Salvo were flooded on Friday across nearly the entire width of Hatteras Island from the ocean to the sound. Trailers toppled in campgrounds where they were left, pictures from a Coast Guard helicopter that flew over the island showed.

Josh Fiscus was still cleaning up the mess at his Salvo home Saturday.

"We had about two feet of water here in my garage," he said.

Jackson Whitley, 14, was back to another day of picking up wind-blown debris and fallen tree limbs from around his family's Buxton home much as he did Friday. Apart from the lack of normal summertime crowds, he said streets were pretty much back to normal.

Linda Savage, 65, said she and a neighbor collected a small refrigerator and a trash can with lid intact left behind by flood waters about three feet deep. The flooding rose almost to the front door of her Salvo home without seeping inside, but Arthur's winds of almost 100 mph caused other damage.

"I lost a tremendous amount of shingles from my roof," Savage said.

She planned to shop for groceries Saturday, and hoped the cable television and Internet would be restored soon.

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Emery Dalesio can be reached at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio.