Hurricane Dorian Reports from the

KDH Public Services Department

Town employees continuously work before, during, and after storm related events to provide a quality level of service and safety to our citizens. The below information contains a few examples of such instances and documents some of the preparation and clean-up efforts made by several divisions of the Kill Devil Hills Public Services Department, in regards to Hurricane Dorian.

Streets Division: 

Over the last month, the Town received two significant rain events each with over 4” of rainfall. At which time, the Streets Division Staff worked promptly and meticulously on all drainage ditches.  All major ditches were mowed or cleaned following the rain events. In preparation for Hurricane Dorian, Staff accelerated maintenance activities by checking all outfalls and ditches. All of this prep work was beneficial with the limited impacts from Hurricane Dorian. Unfortunately following the hurricane, on Monday, September 9^th, KDH received an estimated additional 4 – 5” of rain in roughly 1.5 hours. With the amount of rain fall occurring so quickly on already saturated soils, many stormwater systems were overwhelmed, causing large amounts of standing water.

The conditions improved throughout the day, on Monday, September 9^th, with most roads dry by the evening.  However, several low areas in Town may still have some standing water. While areas without formal drainage systems will take longer to recover, the standing water will continue to recede, provided continued dry conditions.  Citizens in areas served by drainage systems should steadily continue to notice great improvements. Town Staff will continue with daily drainage system checks to ensure there are no blockages. 

The Streets Division also:

• Replaced numerous stop signs that were damaged during the winds
• Removed hazards on the beach identified by Ocean Rescue (Avalon Pier debris)
• Removed down or leaning trees from roadways

Solid Waste Division:

• Removed barrels from the beach accesses
• Rolled back all refuse carts that were left in the right-of-ways
• Provided an adjusted collection for the East Side to empty any full cans created by departing guests
• Served several hundred customers that disposed of items before the storm, by keeping the Recycle Center/Dry Trash Drop-Off Centers open and staffed

Water Systems and Water Plant Division:

• Systems Staff maintain on-call services during Dorian and responded to assist Power Companies locate requests in an effort to restore power
• Plant Staff manned the Water Pump Stations through the storm and operated the pump stations on generator power to maintain our water system throughout the event
• Plant Staff also worked with contractors to secure the elevated tower under construction, prior to the impacts of Dorian. This tower appears to have no damage. The tank to be replaced did suffer some sway rod damage and that repair work is currently being scheduled.

Staff from the KDH Public Services Department also assisted in the Town’s damage assessment reporting following Hurricane Dorian. We appreciate the public’s patience when emergency situations arise. All KDH Staff members will continue with post-Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts and future storm preparations.