Swimming advisory lifted for most sound-side sites on NC coast two weeks after Tropical Storm Debby

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCN) — Two weeks after Debby hit North Carolina as a tropical storm, a precautionary swimming advisory that was put in place on Aug. 7 has been lifted for several sites. It is still in place, however, for eight areas, including two in popular Wrightsville Beach.

According to officials from the state Department of Environmental Quality, the advisory against swimming was lifted Thursday for most sound-side sites in Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender, Onslow, Carteret, Hyde and Dare counties.

“Test results of water samples taken from these waters show bacterial levels that meet the state’s and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safe swimming standards,” the department said in a release, noting that the advisory for most ocean-side sites was lifted Aug. 14.

The eight sites still under a swimming advisory are:

• Wrightsville Beach — Banks Channel at the public access at the corner of Waynick Boulevard and Sunset Avenue
• Wrightsville Beach — Banks Channel at Waynick Boulevard about 150 yards north of Iula Street
• Caswell Beach — the public beach access off Caswell Beach Road
• Washington — Pamlico River at the Railroad Trestle
• Cape Hatteras National Seashore — Pamlico Sound at the Sandy Bay sound-side access near Frisco
• Cape Hatteras National Seashore — Ocean waters at GA Kohler Court in Rodanthe
• Cape Hatteras National Seashore — Ocean waters at Tower Circle in Buxton
• Kill Devil Hills — Roanoke Sound at the Colington Harbour swim beach at the end of Colington Drive

According to recreational water quality officials, they will continue to monitor and test the waters. The advisory will be lifted once conditions meet safe swimming standards for both the state and the EPA.

Precautionary swimming advisories are often issued when storms move through, as high levels of bacteria can enter the water as a result of flooding and runoff following excessive rains and potentially make people sick. North Carolina’s Recreational Water Quality Program samples 221 sites along the coast — mostly every week during the prime swimming months from April through October — to monitor bacteria levels.

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