advisory
High surf advisories and high rip current risk, Southeast Georgia to Palm Beach CountyGeorgia · Florida Atlantic coastBreakers 6–12 ft, Mon to Wed morning; rip currents into Thuchecked Oct 19
Surfing
Florida and Georgia beaches get 6 to 12 feet through Tuesday and Wednesday. Hatteras and Ocracoke flood warnings are extended to Wednesday evening.
By Outdoor Unc
The long coastal storm that closed Hatteras Island this weekend is now sending dangerous surf down the whole Southeast coast. Weather Service offices from Jacksonville to Miami have high surf advisories and high rip current risk on Monday, October 19.
The forecast breakers: 6 to 8 feet on the Southeast Georgia beaches until 5 a.m. Tuesday; 7 to 10 feet in Nassau, Duval, St. Johns and Flagler counties until 8 p.m. Tuesday, with minor coastal flooding along the beaches and the St. Johns River until 4 a.m. Thursday; 6 to 10 feet from Volusia through Martin County, including Brevard, until 4 a.m. Wednesday; 7 to 12 feet in Palm Beach County until 8 a.m. Wednesday; and 6 to 8 feet in Broward on Monday and Tuesday. High rip current risk runs through Wednesday night in northeast Florida and Thursday evening in South Florida.
In North Carolina, the coastal flood warnings for Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, for 2 to 4 feet of water in low-lying areas, now run until 8 p.m. Wednesday, a day longer than Sunday's forecast. Surf of 10 to 14 feet on Hatteras Island and 9 to 12 feet on the Northern Outer Banks continues until 6 a.m. Thursday. Hatteras Island was still closed to visitors in the seashore's latest update, and Ocracoke ferries were suspended.
This is surf for experienced surfers only. The Weather Service warns that rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away, and that the surf will bring dangerous swimming conditions and localized beach erosion.
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open
Gulf Islands NS: Fort Pickens day use, Opal Beach, Perdido Key, Fort Barrancas, Mississippi DistrictEscambia & Santa Rosa Cos., Florida · Mississippi coastFort Pickens Campground, Naval Live Oaks and Okaloosa still closedchecked Oct 19
Trail reports
Most of the seashore is open again after Hurricane Isaias. Naval Live Oaks, the Fort Pickens campground and Okaloosa stay closed for downed trees.
By Outdoor Unc
Gulf Islands National Seashore has reopened most of its Florida District after Hurricane Isaias. The Fort Pickens Area opened for day use at 9 a.m. Sunday, October 18, and remains under a boil-water notice. The Opal Beach complex in the Santa Rosa Area reopened October 17, and the Mississippi District, Perdido Key and Fort Barrancas reopened October 14.
Still closed because of large amounts of downed trees in visitor areas: the Naval Live Oaks Area, including park headquarters and all its trails; the Fort Pickens Campground and the Battery Worth pavilion; and the Okaloosa Area.
Superintendent Rick Clark said the park fared relatively well compared with past hurricanes, with no substantial damage to buildings, roads, trails or utilities in either district. Watch for sand and vegetation across roads and trails, and stay out of signed closed areas.
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Hunting
The bear had been shot with a crossbow the day before. It chased the couple's dog, then attacked her; officers later killed it.
By Outdoor Unc
A woman was injured by a black bear on Sunday, October 18, on a rural property outside Cusick in Pend Oreille County, Washington, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said. She was treated at a local hospital and then transferred to a hospital in Spokane.
The afternoon before, her husband had been lawfully hunting black bear on their private property off Reynolds Creek Road and shot a bear with a crossbow; it ran off. The couple went looking for it the next morning with their dog. The bear chased the dog and attacked the woman, and the couple drove straight to the hospital.
Fish and Wildlife officers, a Forest Service officer and a Kalispel Tribal officer found a bear near the site with the help of dogs that afternoon, and a WDFW officer killed it because of the attack and its injuries. It was sent to the state's animal disease lab in Pullman for evaluation.
Attacks are rare. Washington's only recorded fatal black bear attack was in 1974, and the state has documented a little over 20 injuries from black bear encounters since 1970. For any bear encounter, the department's advice is to identify yourself as human by standing tall, waving your arms and talking in a low voice, and to back away slowly without running.
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