RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) -- Coastal residents and vacationers shrugged off the fading effects of Hurricane Earl and got ready to enjoy Labor Day weekend Saturday as officials reopened the main highway linking the Outer Banks to the mainland.
Hundreds of cars packed onto the Bonner Bridge as Highway 12 reopened around 7 a.m. The traffic also was slow because some pools of water remained on the road.
The highway had been closed since overnight Thursday when water and sand blown by Earl blocked the route. Workers had to use bulldozers to help clear it and had to wait for some of the water to drain.
The closure meant people who did not leave Hatteras Island and its seven villages before the storm were cut off from the mainland. While some homes flooded because of the storm, no injuries or major damage were reported.
Most traffic Saturday morning headed south onto the island, as visitors made their way in to enjoy the final weekend of the summer vacation season.
Wayne Hammond, a 47-year-old mechanic from Baltimore, said he was initially supposed to vacation with his family for a week starting Thursday.
After the storm passed Friday, he and his family began their trip south, staying in Kitty Hawk that night and then getting to Hatteras Island shortly after authorities reopened the highway. At the same time, the remnants of Earl - which was downgraded to a tropical storm - were spinning toward Nova Scotia.
"There's always better weather after a hurricane," Hammond noted.
Benjamin Voyles tried to make it down to the island village of Buxton on Friday after the storm had passed, hoping to begin a Labor Day weekend fishing getaway. When officials kept the road closed, he and a friend stayed in a Nags Head hotel. They then made the drive down the Outer Banks shortly after authorities reopened the bridge.
"I knew we were going to get down here - it was just a matter of time," said Voyles, 27, of Charlotte.
Ferry service from the mainland to Ocracoke Island and from Ocracoke Island to Hatteras Island also resumed Saturday morning.
