Drum Inlet is an inlet

Inlet

An inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water, often leading to an enclosed body of water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon or marsh. In sea coasts an inlet usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an...

 of the Outer Banks

Outer Banks

The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. It connects the Core Sound

Core Sound

The Core Sound is a large and shallow body of water in eastern North Carolina located between the mainland of Carteret County and Core Banks, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, located west of the Atlantic Ocean and north of Bogue Sound. Pamlico Sound is located to the north and east....

 with the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and separates North Core Banks from South Core Banks.

Drum Inlet initially opened in about 1899, but closed naturally by 1919. It reopened during the 1933 Outer Banks Hurricane, but closed again by 1971. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers then opened New Drum Inlet about 3 miles to the south. In 1999 Hurricane Dennis

Hurricane Dennis (1999)

Hurricane Dennis was an Atlantic hurricane that affected the Bahamas and parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast during the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. The fifth tropical cyclone, fourth tropical storm, and third hurricane of the season, Dennis originated from a tropical wave that passed north...

 reopened Old Drum Inlet, but it has again closed. In 2005 Ophelia Inlet was opened by Hurricane Ophelia

Hurricane Ophelia (2005)

Hurricane Ophelia was the fifteenth named tropical cyclone and the eighth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was a long-lived storm that was most remembered for its very erratic and extremely slow track off the East Coast of the United States, alternating several times between...

 just south of New Drum Inlet, and later merged with New Drum Inlet

Over the winter of 2008-2009, all of the inlets shoaled and closed up, leaving only Ophelia Inlet.

In September 2011, Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene (2011)

Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...

reopened New Drum and Old Drum Inlets and widened Ophelia Inlet.