The N.C. Department of Transportation is reporting a tractor-trailer crash has shut down the drawbridge on USA 64 over the Alligator River between Tyrrell and Dare counties.
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While winds are slowly decreasing from the sounds, officials say significant ocean impacts – surge, wave run-up, erosion and overwash – are expected this evening near time of high tide, approximately 9:30 p.m.
Troopers say high winds contributed to the accident. Highway Patrol officials said high winds were the cause of the accident.
Drivers are urged to use other routes, including the Wright Memorial Bridge, the Herbert Bonner Bridge, the Washington Baum Bridge, and the Old Manns Harbor Bridge, all of which remain open. It remains uncertain how long they will remain closed.
The vehicle overturned while crossing the Alligator River Bridge around 11 a.m.
The driver of the tractor trailer was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Authorities had to close another Dare County bridge, the Virginia Dare Bridge, at noon when a different tractor trailer overturned. NCDOT has closed both bridges until further notice. That accident occurred on the Virginia Dare Bridge. Stay with WITN.com for this developing story.
