From the air, it's easy to see how Hurricane
Isabel ripped a new inlet between the
village of Hatteras and the rest of the
island, severing North Carolina Route 12.
DON LONG/TIMES-DISPATCH
Posted on 09/29/2003 4:19:20 AM PDT by putupon
Written in sand
Storms repeatedly open and close inlets on Hatteras
BY BILL GEROUX
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Sep 29, 2003
From the air, it's easy to see how Hurricane
Isabel ripped a new inlet between the
village of Hatteras and the rest of the
island, severing North Carolina Route 12.
DON LONG/TIMES-DISPATCH
From the air, it's easy to see how Hurricane Isabel ripped a new inlet between the village of Hatteras and the rest of the island, severing North Carolina Route 12. DON LONG/TIMES-DISPATCH HATTERAS, N.C. - The new inlet is a nasty piece of work.
It is a gash one-third of a mile long isolating the main part of Hatteras Island from this storm-battered village at the island's southern tip.
It ranges in depth from 2 feet to 30, and it changes constantly. It contains two ragged islands topped with crumpled asphalt from North Carolina Route 12, the only road that led to the village.
At high tide, the ocean roars through the inlet into Pamlico Sound in a confusion of whitecaps and breaking surf.
A half-submerged house far out in the sound only adds to the rawness of the scene.
The inlet was created on Sept. 18, most likely during the early afternoon hours, when Hurricane Isabel was at its worst.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has predicted it will get the inlet plugged within 3? weeks, by Oct. 24. The Corps has summoned a huge dredge it says can fill the inlet with sand faster than the ocean can steal it.
The senior Corps commander, Col. Ray Al- exander, says the gap in the island is a "breach" rather than a natural process at work. At a meeting in Hatteras on Saturday, he dismissed critics of the project as "nay-sayers."
But Alexander acknowledged that the Corps already has changed its project on the fly, and that subsequent storms or equipment problems could complicate things.
"Engineering is a science," he said. "But there are a lot of variables and a lot of unknowns to what we're working with."
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Oregon and Hatteras inlets, which many people today consider permanent parts of the landscape, were opened by the same huge hurricane in 1846.
Another monster hurricane in 1933 tore open an inlet in the same spot as Hurricane Isabel did, said former Dare County Sheriff Bert Austin, who was 2 at the time. Austin said a wooden bridge was built across that inlet to carry what few vehicles made the trip in those days.
"But after a number of years, the inlet filled in by itself, and people stopped using the bridge and went back to just driving along the sand," Austin said. The government finally burned the useless bridge in 1941 to harvest the metal in it for the war effort, he said.
As if to honor its predecessor, the new inlet opened by Hurricane Isabel exposed pilings from the old inlet bridge that had been hidden beneath the sand for a half-century. "Some of us knew they were down there somewhere," Austin said.
The most recent inlet on Hatteras Island before Isabel was cut in 1962 between Buxton and Avon by a fierce nor'easter popularly known as the Ash Wednesday Storm. The Corps struggled for nearly a year before it successfully closed that inlet with two small dredges.
Hurricane Dennis in 1999 opened a narrow breach in the island in roughly the same place as the Ash Wednesday Storm. That opening closed itself, and the state highway department quickly repaired Route 12 and reunited the island.
As one 50-something Hatteras native put it last week, "This isn't our first inlet."
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Dr. Orrin Pilkey, a retired Duke University geologist and a frequent critic of engineering projects to protect beachfront development, said the new inlet might not stay closed.
Filling the gap should require somewhere between 600,000 and 1 million cubic yards of sand, Alexander said, depending on how fast the ocean steals what the dredge deposits.
Corps officials said the cost surely will exceed $3 million, most of it borne by FEMA.
Alexander said the Corps could reunite the island by Oct. 24 if all goes well. But, he said, any number of factors could affect the timetable, including the weather.
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(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
Again, if they choose to live there, let them pay their own way.
I understand that all the people there, whether rich vacation folk or the hardworking watermen, are all very nice people. This not a class warfare thing, it's a whats fair is fair thing.
If they have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with paved road access, then I have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with convienent paved access too.
And what about Corolla?. Last I heard, they have no paved road access either.
If they can pave a road throught the national park to Hatteras, how come they can't pave a road through a national park to Corolla?
A person I know retired to Corolla a few years back, and he payed his own way to get there and build. Should the taxpayers have been responsible for his expenses also?
Depends on how far you go up. Road is paved up to the Corolla Light House (and perhaps a bit beyond). There's some mega bucks homes there.
But those who don't think they have the right to other people's money live somewhere that has jobs and roads to get to them that won't be washed out every time there is a Nor'easter.
Then they take what pocket change the social parasites leave behind and get to the beach one week out of the year, if they are lucky.
My father does fairly well. He doesn't expect the government to come in and take care of his extensive damages at business or home in Williamsburg.
Again, it's not class warfare, in spite of your attempts to spin it that way.
I don't think we should build subsidized businesses in Appalachia so the dirt poor laid off coal miners who refuse to move can get jobs either.
It's about investing your money on a sandbar lot in the ocean.
My brother-in-law's condo in Kitty Hawk made it through, but had the worst happened, it was insured with his own money.
Rich folks lose money in Vegas every day, you want the taxpayer to cover their loses too?
THEY DO!!! They pay taxes just like the rest of us.
This not a class warfare thing, it's a whats fair is fair thing.
Fair? You mean like taking away a road that has been there for over 50 years?
If they have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with paved road access, then I have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with convienent paved access too.
IT ISN'T AN ACCESS ROAD!!! How many times do I have to say that? It is North Carolina Highway 12. It is a road just like any other one in the country.
And what about Corolla?. Last I heard, they have no paved road access either.
Then you are as behind the times as I thought. The road from the Dare County line to Corolla has been paved since the early 80s.
If they can pave a road throught the national park to Hatteras, how come they can't pave a road through a national park to Corolla?
See above and get a clue.
A person I know retired to Corolla a few years back, and he payed his own way to get there and build. Should the taxpayers have been responsible for his expenses also?
Apparently you don't know him very well.
And you are completely ignoring my points about floods, tornados, snow, earthquakes, etc. Can you please tell us where it is OK to live?
Which could be considered for a long term, relative to the particular section of the OBX that it's located. A bridge or ferry (that users, not some poor sap in the midwest who's never seen the ocean, pays for) could make sense, filling it up with sand and repaving seems like a very stupid decision, IMHO.
Wrong.
The fact is that this has only happened ONCE since the founding of Hatteras. From your article:
"Another monster hurricane in 1933 tore open an inlet in the same spot as Hurricane Isabel did,"
Is isn't "washed out every time there is a Nor'easter". That is a complete lie.
Actually, I believe the area I'm thinking of is north of Corolla, I know people who were hauling building materials up the beach w/ 4 wheel drives as late as '94. I think Feds had rules there were to be no paved roads along the Back Bay refuge.
As for the road being there for decades, well, God seems to have cut an easement through the State of North Carolina's, and I don't care how much of my money you spend, when He gets ready, he'll do it again.
Some point to consider: Is the Hatteras Inlet Coast Guard station still open? Do we abandon it? At what cost? How much to build a new ferry dock? Aside from the 600 local residents, how are Ocracoke residents impacted? How will this affect the tourist revenue and fishing industry?
Sorry, I missed this post. But it reinforces the point that this isn't a giveaway. It has already been paid for.
I was rummaging around the house this morning looking for my last rental agreement. I remember looking at it one day and being shocked at the taxes we pay for one week of rental. If you multiply that for the whole summer (and spring and fall), and for the immense number of houses that are rented, there are millions generated by those fees alone. That doesn't include business and other incomes generated.
Back Bay Wildlife Refuge is in Virginia. But you're right about restricted access and no paved roads. I think there are some limitations along the North Carolina side as well, but Corolla is developed pretty far up.
Still, while I haven't been there, my understanding is that there are some homes only accessible by 4WD.
I was wrong earlier when I was talking about Hatteras Lighthouse. This new inlet is south of there. So you can still access the Lighthouse by car. Although I believe restrictions are still on unless you're a property owner. My brother can't go south of Nags Head where his house is.
So you say every dime that goes into maintaining OBX comes only from money collected there? FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers are in charge of fighting this war against nature; I believe their funds are collected in all 50 states.
How do I get on this list of people who are entitled to live on the beach year round at the expense of eveyone else?
Since you are using vague numbers, I will too. I'm not saying the specific dollars are there, but the three million dollars has been collected in taxes, and then some.
How do I get on this list of people who are entitled to live on the beach year round at the expense of eveyone else?
You really have a problem with people "living on the beach", don't you?
We are discussing here a state road which is being rebuilt. So far you haven't answered why it is OK to rehuild houses after a tornado, or rebuild a bridge after a flood, but it isn't OK to rebuild 1/3 of a mile of state highway.
If the next storm hits further north and wipes out the Wright Memorial Bridge, will your brother-in-law be happy paying for the ferry to get to his condo everytime he goes?
You ain't livin' at the beach, but if you live in Central Virginia or if you've ever had a beer in Shockoe Bottom, you're on the same list. Much of Virginia was also declared a federal disaster area.
And the Army Corps built the Richmond Flood Wall.
The problem is not with "living on the beach", the problem is with living in a high risk area and not accepting responsibility for that choice.
I plan to live on the beach myself when I retire, at least half the year.
I also plan to accept the risks that come with living at a place that stands a good chance of getting a few hurricanes within what remains of my projected lifespan, therefore I don't plan on it being on a thin barrier island.
The people who live on Hatteras have chosen where to live and already go through numerous inconviences to do so. I heard the kids have to go to school by boat anyhow. That tells me that they have accepted the inconviences for benefits of ocean front living.
More power to them, but if they want me to pay for their road, then they can come to Virginia, fix my roof, my parents roof, which includes structural damage, a huge tree I need removed, the $1500 (bargain price) my Dad paid to get his removed, and all the big bucks damage to the business.
I'm not a leech, I don't want something for nothing. If people in another location want to trade paying to fix my storm damage for me fixing theirs, then I'm open to an offer.
So far you haven't answered why it is OK to rehuild houses after a tornado, or rebuild a bridge after a flood, but it isn't OK to rebuild 1/3 of a mile of state highway.
I thought you may have picked up earlier when I made the comment to the effect that after tornados go away and floods recede, the land remains, and you must have not picked up on the this quote in the article:
"Dr. Orrin Pilkey, a retired Duke University geologist and a frequent critic of engineering projects to protect beachfront development, said the new inlet might not stay closed."
If you still don't get it, read this. Sorry, it's PDF and all I can do is link it.
The point is, repairing breaches in shifting sand is a waste of time and money, peeing in the ocean, as it were.
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