page_title: Hurricane Arthur
section_title: North Carolina
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Arthur / Impact / North Carolina
caption_attribution_description: English: I think I'll launch right into the thick of things today... Hurricane Arthur just made landfall between Beaufort, NC and Cape Lookout. Officially as a cat 2 storm with winds of 100mph.
context_page_description: Hurricane Arthur was the earliest known hurricane annually to make landfall in the U.S. state of North Carolina, and the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Isaac in 2012. The first named storm of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, Arthur developed from an initially non-tropical area of low pressure over the Southeastern United States that emerged into the western Atlantic Ocean on June 28. After sufficiently organizing, developing a well-defined circulation and deep convection amid a favorable environment, it was classified a tropical depression on July 1. The system continued to strengthen, and was declared a tropical storm later that day. Drifting northward, the storm reached hurricane status early on July 3 and curved toward the north-northeast. Further structural organization resulted in additional intensification, and by 01:00 UTC on July 4, the system attained its peak winds of 100 mph as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale.
context_section_description: Hurricane Arthur was the earliest recorded landfalling North Carolina hurricane, coming onshore at 03:15 UTC on July 4. At Cape Lookout, a peak wind gust of 101 mph (163 km/h) and 1-minute maximum sustained winds of 77 mph (124 km/h) were recorded. A United States Coast Guard station in Cape Hatteras observed a peak gust of 91 mph (146 km/h). An EF1 tornado touched down in Duplin County, damaging two structures and many trees, while a funnel cloud was sighted within the vicinity of Elm City. Another EF1 tornado was reported in Martin County, which knocked a tree onto a house. The highest rainfall total measured as a result of Arthur in North Carolina, 4.20 inches (107 mm), was recorded at Kinston. High tides were reported along the coast, with a peak storm surge of 4.5 ft (1.4 m) at Oregon Inlet.
  Arthur caused power outages impacting at least 44,000 customers, of which 16,500 were in Carteret County; another 1,000 outages each occurred in Craven and New Hanover counties. As a result, Duke Energy deployed over 500 personnel to restore electrical service, while Tideland EMC handled more than 2,000 outages in Pamlico, Hyde and Craven counties. Strong winds toppled trees and power poles in Hyde County and Ocracoke Island, and flooding occurred just south of downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. On other areas along the coast, flood waters reached 3 to 6 feet (0.91 to 1.83 m) deep; with widespread coastal erosion observed in many areas. Meanwhile, at Wrightsville Beach, the hurricane tore off shingles and partially defoliated palm trees, and in Manteo, 6 to 8 inches (150 to 200 mm) of water inundated several businesses. Nearby, Kill Devil Hills experienced flooding to numerous residences and roads. Copious rainfall and strong winds were reported along the Outer Banks; at least one additional county was added to the North Carolina's state of emergency declaration, and while officials in Dare County initially intended to cut off access to the county while potential destruction was being surveyed, the curfew ended just after sunrise. Emergency officials announced the intention to begin damage assessments throughout the state as sunrise approached and Arthur departed the region.
  After experiencing a "communication failure" with Ocracoke Island officials, a generator and communication equipment were delivered via ferry there. North Carolina Highway 12, the only road linking Hatteras Island to the mainland, remained closed after Arthur's passage, covered under water and sand. The repair cost for the road was less than $1 million. In Manteo, parts of U.S. Route 64 were shut down due to flooding, and northern portions of the North Carolina coastline also experienced  significant flooding. Few flight cancellations were made necessary by Arthur's approach along the East Coast, as the storm's impacts were primarily offshore, and damage was limited to strewn debris and inundated roads. Overall, damage along the North Carolina shoreline was slight, and no fatalities or severe injuries were recorded. Throughout the county a total of 161 structures sustained damage, 16 of which had major damage, while none were destroyed. Damage in North Carolina amounted to $2.35 million, almost entirely in Dare County alone. The low damage across the state was largely due to the storm's fast motion.
caption: AVN color loop of Arthur making landfall in Outer Banks on July 4