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It was supposed to be a breeze. Instead, Hurricane Alex sucker-punched North Carolina's Outer Banks with surprisingly strong winds and local flooding Tuesday.

Alex powered up overnight in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, growing from a tropical storm into a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph.

The worst of Alex stayed just offshore, with the hurricane's ragged eye skirting within 10 miles of Cape Hatteras. Today, it will be well out to sea.

Villages battered by Hurricane Isabel 11 months ago fared better this time, with relatively mild overwash from Pamlico Sound instead of devastating whitecaps scarring the islands.

Emergency officials reported dune erosion and about 10,000 power outages, but little wind damage. No deaths or major injuries were reported. The National Hurricane Center called it a "grazing blow." Still, Outer Banks residents didn't escape entirely. Up to 6 inches of rain fell. The strongest wind gust over land -- recorded at the Ocracoke Ferry terminal -- hit 120 mph.

The sound inundated parts of the islands, with flooding up to 5 feet deep.

Sand once again buried stretches of N.C. 12, the main highway through the Outer Banks, which was ripped in two when Isabel cut a new inlet last year. The state filled in the gash with sand then, and officials said the road would be quickly cleared this time.

The season's first named storm developed later than usual, but forecasters said that's no indication of what to expect for the next three months. Already, a depression east of the Caribbean could grow into a tropical storm today.

They'll name it Bonnie.