Giant waves and high water rushed up beaches in Pender County along Topsail Beach, N.C. on Sunday. The force of Hurricane Sandy devastated the land, stripping away sand from beaches and knocking down homeowners’ foundations.
In other North Carolina storm news, tall ship HMS Bounty had to be abandoned early Monday morning after Hurricane Sandy bore down on the vessel. Fourteen crew members, in survival suits, were plucked by two Coast Guard helicopters from lifeboats after the crew was forced to leave the ship. Two crew members are still missing.
The Coast Guard in Portsmouth was notified by the tall ship’s owner late Sunday evening, saying she had lost communication with its crew. A radio beacon from the Bounty signaled its position, guiding the helicopters to the ship. Water was pouring into the vessel, which also had lost its propulsion.
The Bounty, a 180-foot, three-masted ship, was used to film the 1960 MGM movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” and was also used in the production of the 2006 film “Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest.”
On the Outer Banks, the storm let up somewhat Monday, but residents are bracing themselves for further flooding with high tides on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Ocracoke was flooded by over two feet of water in some spots and people were stranded along parts of Hatteras Island’s 70-mile-long main highway.
In Rodanthe, a beach home buckled. No great damage or injuries were reported for Sunday night and early Monday in Currituck County.
As of 6:30 p.m. ET, more than 1.5 million customers are without power due to Hurricane Sandy. According to CBS, 5,264 Duke Energy customers lost power and another 11,995 Progress Energy customers lost power today. There are 72 active outages as of 5 p.m. ET.
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