U.S. beachgoers flee Maria; Puerto Rico suffers
WAVES, N.C. — Thousands of visitors abandoned their beach vacations as high surf from a weakening Tropical Storm Maria pushed through dunes and under homes Tuesday in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Meanwhile on Puerto Rico, more than 3.4 million U.S. citizens still lack adequate food, water and fuel five days after Maria pounded the island as a Category 4 hurricane. Officials said it may take more than a month to fully restore electrical power.
More than 10,000 visitors were told to leave the North Carolina barrier islands of Hatteras and Ocracoke, but the evacuation orders didn’t apply to local residents. They are now resigning themselves to economic losses as well as more flood damage after repeated poundings by tropical weather.
Sarah Midgett lost her car during Hermine and her home was severely damaged by Matthew’s floods last year. Jose then hit the dunes this month, and Maria pushed through the weakened natural barrier, washing over parts of Hatteras. “It’s insane how much the beach has eroded,” said Midgett, who moved many of her belongings off her floor, just in case.
Scientists said Maria is expected to erode more than half the dunes along North Carolina’s 300-mile coast. Beaches in Maryland and Virginia could fare even worse, with two-thirds seeing erosion and the ocean washing over a third of their dunes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
In the town of Waves, kitesurfing instructors lost a solid week of reservations after tourists had to evacuate. Adrienne Kina, who normally works as a saleswoman at REAL Watersports, said this storm is going to mess with the locals again after a dayslong power outage this summer sent 50,000 tourists packing and cost the Outer Banks millions in lost tourism income.
Maria’s top sustained winds dropped Tuesday to near 70 mph, ending a nine-day run as a hurricane.
The center remained far offshore, centered about 160 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and moving north at 7 mph. Still, a tropical storm warning was in effect for the North Carolina coast from Bogue Inlet to the Virginia border, and meteorologists predicted a storm surge for Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Hatteras.
President Donald Trump agreed Tuesday to waive the usual requirement that state governments pay a fourth of the cost of disaster aid, since Maria hit a U.S. territory already mired in financial crisis. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said he’s “confident the president understands the magnitude of the situation.”
Trump also announced he plans to visit the island next Tuesday.
Federal agencies also announced how they’re helping. The Federal Highway Administration is assessing road damage to facilitate federal money to fix them. The TS Kennedy, a former commercial freighter used by the Maritime Administration for training, is moving from Texas to support the recovery in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Federal Transit Administration is helping restore ferry service, which has been available only during daylight hours to transport emergency supplies to Vieques and Culebra.