EF2 tornado in Carteret County, North Carolina

A waterspout near Bogue Inlet Pier came onshore as a tornado near

Janell Ln., Boardwalk RV Park and Salty Pirate Waterpark in Emerald

Isle. The waterspout was quite large when it was offshore and was

viewed by the Bogue Inlet Pier web cam courtesy of Surfline. The

most intense damage was found here. On Janell Lane, a

section of a metal roof was removed on one side of a house that was

in the opposite direction of the storm motion. On the other side of

the house, with the storm motion, large sections of the metal

roof were removed with similar damage to a house next door. As the

path crossed into the RV park, numerous RV style homes were tossed

and rolled more than 30 feet, ripping out ground anchors that

strapped them down.

In the middle of the path, where the winds were strongest, numerous

RV type homes suffered complete destruction. Based on the complete

destruction of the homes, along with the loss of substantial sections

of a metal roof, which usually have a higher wind rating, damage was

consistent with that of an EF 2 tornado or around 115 MPH.

The path continued to the north northwest where more damage was

found to the Salty Pirate Waterpark and continued across Highway 58

(Emerald Drive) where several homes were damaged along W Harbor Trail

and Sunrise Ct. The tornado then moved over the Bogue Sound,

becoming a waterspout again. Eyewitness accounts indicate that a

funnel may have persisted, but no apparent tornado damage was

found in Cedar Point.

Several videos from members of the public conclusively show that the

funnel cloud returned to the surface in the form of a waterspout as

it crossed over the lower White Oak River. The waterspout continued for

several minutes northwestward up the White Oak River before once

again coming ashore as a tornado and causing major roof damage to a

home on Watersedge Cir. and minor damage to several other structures

in the Holland Point Dr. area.

The tornado then tracked through mostly forested and undeveloped

land for approximately 6 miles before heavily damaging a farm and

residential property on Kidd Ln. in Maysville. Based on eyewitness

accounts, the funnel cloud may have persisted for several more

miles, but the lack of identifiable tornado damage indicates that

the end of the tornado path was this location on Kidd Ln. in southern

Maysville.

Hurricane Dorian was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Dorian formed on August 24, 2019 from a tropical wave in the Central Atlantic and gradually strengthened as it moved toward the Lesser Antilles, becoming a hurricane on August 28. Rapid intensification occurred, and on August 31, Dorian became a Category 4 hurricane. On September 1, Dorian reached Category 5 intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, and a minimum central pressure of 910 mb (26.87 inHg) while making landfall in Elbow Cay, Bahamas. Dorian made another landfall on Grand Bahama several hours later. The ridge of high pressure steering Dorian westward collapsed on September 2, causing Dorian to stall just north of Grand Bahama for about a day. It is the strongest known tropical system to impact the Bahamas. A combination of cold water upwelling and an eyewall replacement cycle weakened Dorian to a Category 2 hurricane on the next day. On the morning of September 3, Dorian began to move slowly towards the north-northwest. Dorian subsequently completed its eyewall replacement cycle and moved over warmer waters, regaining Category 3 intensity by midnight on September 5. In the early hours of September 6, Dorian weakened to Category 1 intensity as it picked up speed and turned northeast. Dorian would pick up speed and move northeast along the North Carolina coast September 6, moving east of the Crystal Coast, clipping Cape Lookout and eventually making landfall at Cape Hatteras before making yet another landfall in Nova Scotia on September 8.

The initial impacts from Dorian actually occurred during the morning hours of September 5 when several tornadoes touched down in eastern North Carolina. The most damaging tornado occurred in Emerald Isle in Carteret County. The tornado touched down shortly after 9 AM and damaged numerous businesses and homes, including the Salty Pirate Water Park. This tornado was rated an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale with estimated winds of 115 mph. As the eye of Dorian moved northeastward and clipped Cape Lookout, peak wind gusts of 110 mph were recorded at the Cedar Island Ferry Terminal, 89 mph at Fort Macon, 85 mph at Beaufort and 82 mph at Cape Lookout. Wind gusts around 100 mph were also recorded on Hatteras Island. Rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches were recorded across a broad area of Eastern North Carolina. Storm surge flooding occurred in Cedar Island, Hatteras Island, and Ocracoke Island. The most severe storm surge flooding occurred in Ocracoke where several people were trapped in their attics by flooding from the 4-to-7-foot storm surge, requiring rescue by boats. People were airlifted off the island to shelters on the mainland while food and water were brought in to residents on the island. North Carolina Highway 12 along Ocracoke Island suffered significant damage from flooding. More than 190,000 North Carolina homes lost power during the storm.