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hat does a local pizza restaurant and Christmas trees have in common? They’re both working to fight erosion. This is the 3rd year in a row Chicho’s Pizza in Virginia Beach is collecting trees from community members in order to protect beaches in the Outer Banks. “We started off the first year, we thought we were going to get 100 trees it was kind of just a little fun thing to do. We wound up getting a thousand trees. Then last year really blew up the community really liked it and we wound up getting 2500 trees last year,” said...

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office denied the governor had left the state for the Outer Banks after issuing a stay-at-home order. Rumors circulated social media that the Democratic governor had traveled to his second home in the Outer Banks, N.C., after signing an executive order asking Virginians to “remain at their place of residence,” with the exception of essential travel. Northam’s order was issued March 30 and is set to expire June 10.

Suit comes after Civitas exposed harsh treatment of non-resident homeowners during virus crisis People who own homes and pay property taxes on the Outer Banks but are permanent residents elsewhere filed a lawsuit in federal court April 7th, 2020 to order Dare County to re-open points of entry to the Outer Banks to non-resident owners. The six plaintiffs, from Virginia, South Carolina, and Maryland use their property as second homes, and at times as beach and vacation rentals. As noted in a recent Civitas article: “Non-permanent resident property owners are currently barred from accessing their land and homes in Currituck,...

When folks across the eastern United States hear the term “nor’easter” they typically think of snow. But the recent storm that brushed the region’s coast left some thinking of a different word -- sand. The brunt of the "no-name nor’easter," as some are calling it, focused on the coast of the Carolinas, particularly the Outer Banks. “For much of the weekend, winds [were] gusting over 60 mph around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, fueling massive waves that demolished dunes, exposing homes to the brutal surf,” AccuWeather National Weather Reporter Jonathan Petramala said during a report on the AccuWeather TV network.More images...

Commenters on YouTube are divided as to whether the lights are UFOs or just flares used by the military. The latter is plausible, given the proximity of the Outer Banks to multiple military facilities, including Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg in Eastern North Carolina. “I know what those lights are,” posted Derrick Chennault on YouTube. “As a former Marine based at the 2nd Marine Air Wing in Cherry Point, N.C. ... we used to regularly drop flares out of the back of our plane in the evenings for military exercises... Glad to see the Marines are still spooking people.” Guy...

Elon Musk’s rocket building company SpaceX has confirmed a large chunk of debris found Sunday on an Outer Banks beach is a part of one of its rockets. Tropical storms and hurricanes often push debris ashore in the Carolinas. A collection of World War II armor-piercing projectiles and bullets was found by a volunteer firefighter on Topsail Island the first weekend of October, reported the Charlotte Observer.

We’re thrilled to report that the herds of wild horses that roam North Carolina’s Outer Banks have emerged from Hurricane Florence unscathed. Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Corolla Wild Horse Fund both confirmed on social media over the weekend that their equine populations are safe and sound following Hurricane Florence’s lashing last week. Corolla Wild Horse Fund herd manager Meg Puckett told The News & Observer that the wild herd found higher ground and grouped together against the wind and rain. People on the island also kept an eye on them.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is investigating after a Donald Trump campaign flag was seen flying on a ferry.

WILMINGTON, N.C. — The deadly season along North Carolina's coast continues as three people died after pulled from waters along the southeastern coast. Media outlets report the drownings occurred Saturday off Wrightsville Beach, Holden Beach and Sunset Beach. Coastline Rescue Chief David Robinson says a surfer pulled a 20-year-old man from the waters off Holden Beach. Robinson says officials believe the man got caught in a rip current.

Powells Point, N.C. — Beach-goers in the Outer Banks got a powerful reminder of the dangers of the ocean after a man drowned Thursday. According to police, the drowning victim, Kenny Ray Gooch, 32, was from Powells Point and sacrificed himself to save his girlfriend’s son. “We heard screams of help in the water and we looked out and there were multiple people in the water, somewhat scattered,” one witness said. Southern Shores police said three teenage boys were swimming north of the Kitty Hawk Pier at about 8 p.m. Thursday when they got pulled too far out. Gooch jumped...

There's a new attraction for thousands of people enjoying the long holiday weekend on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Shelly Island is a destination you won't find on a standard map. The giant barrier island suddenly formed in the Atlantic Ocean, almost overnight. CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports the mile-long island, which measures as wide as a football field, has attracted hundreds of tourists by boat for the Fourth of July. Pilot Larry Ihler told Strassmann the island "has definitely gotten bigger" and is "more built up." Strassmann set out by kayak on Monday to explore Shelly Island with County...

The United States has gotten just a little bit larger. Cape Hatteras, N.C., has a new addition to the landscape. Shelly Island is the unofficial name of a mile-long sandbank that has appeared just off the coast. And here to speak with us about it is Dave Hallac, who is superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Thanks for joining us today. [snip]

The remains of a long-ago victim of the Graveyard of the Atlantic have been discovered on the beach off Corolla after this week’s rough surf. A pair of photos taken Thursday night show the remains of the wreck near Whalehead.

NAGS HEAD, N.C. — The dangers of climate change were revealed to Willo Kelly in a government conference room in the summer of 2011. By the end of the century, state officials said, the ocean would be 39 inches higher and her home on the Outer Banks would be swamped. The state had detailed maps to illustrate this claim and was developing a Web site where people could check by street address to see if their property was doomed. There was no talk of salvation, no plan to hold back the tide. The 39-inch forecast was “a death sentence,” Kelly...

Unearthed photos a gift to historians on OBX Manteo. N.C. A collection of old photos, some not seen before by local historians, shows wreckage in Hatteras after the big hurricane of 1899. Carol Cronk Cole, granddaughter of an employee of the Virginia Beach weather bureau office in the 1890s, has given copies of 20 photographs to the Outer Banks History Center in Manteo. Many of them depict the aftermath of the August 1899 hurricane known as San Ciriaco that killed hundreds of people along the coast and in Puerto Rico and wrecked at least 13 ships along the North Carolina...

CAROLINA BEACH - As sea level continues to rise, North Carolina communities that have relied on beach renourishment programs will find it harder and harder to keep up with the ocean's onslought, a federal scientist told beach community and state officials today. Jeff Williams, a marine geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said some global warming projections forecast more frequent hurricanes, which cause the most rapid and dramatic beach erosion. Many North Carolina towns have funded dredging projects that replenish sand that has washed away. But Williams told a gathering of about 100 people at a meeting of the North...

At 12:35 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, a Villa Dunes resident spotted a fire across the sound on Roanoke Island and called 911. Part of The Lost Colony’s Waterside Theatre was in flames. All fire departments north of Oregon Inlet responded. Fire crews worked swiftly and efficiently to control the blaze and take necessary precautions to save the nearby men’s dressing room structure. Despite of the efforts, the maintenance shed, thought to be at or near the source of the fire, was completely destroyed. Charred pieces of framing in a flimsy skeleton, pointing irregularly toward the star-lighted sky, appear to...

Rising sea level redefines N.C. coast If climate predictions hold, the transformation of islands and rivers will speed up

Scientists from an assortment of institutions spent part of Labor Day weekend searching for clues as to why five - or perhaps six - pygmy sperm whales stranded on the Outer Banks beginning on Friday. “There were definitely five of the whales, and possibly six,” said Laura Engleby, fisheries biologist with of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service office in St. Petersburg, Fla. “The reason the number is unclear, is because the public pushed one of the whales back out into the water and then one washed in, so there is no way of knowing...

NY/NJ guy going for a week of beach in the Outer Banks. Where do we shop for cigars? Liquor? Food? Is a trip to Kitty Hawk worth it? Places to hear some good music? Thanks NC Freepers...