A vulnerable barrier island on the North Carolina coast may see homes being cleaned and important roads flooded.
Hurricane Erin slams North Carolina’s outer bank with waves and wind
Hurricane Erin brings life-threatening rifts, evacuations and winds up to 60 miles across North Carolina and the East Coast.
The heart of Hurricane Erin will pass North Carolina’s outer bank at less than 300 miles, setting up vulnerable areas due to severe abuse as predictors warn of two-storey waves that will destroy dunes and charge through beachfront houses and inlands above the ocean and tide that could threaten floods.
Thousands of permanent residents live in the ribbons of the narrow barrier island, but the population grows during the summer, with over 2 million people visiting the area every year. Outer Banks’ remote beaches, sand dunes and Oceanfront House are one of the “most dynamic natural landscapes occupying humanity.” I wrote in 2016.
As Erin tracked north, surfers took advantage of the building’s swell, and the other buildings evacuated along Highway 12, the only highway connecting the outer bank. Authorities warned that roads known to be floods even during seasonal high tides could not pass for several days.
It has long been popular with beach residents and tourists for its scenic views and remote atmosphere, and the outer bank has recently become known for its eroded beach homes that collapse into the sea during hurricanes, winter Nor Easter and other tidal events. However, islanders say the video cannot convey the enormous complexity of the challenges facing the community.
The islands connected by highways protrude into the ocean along narrow points on the continental shelf, making them particularly vulnerable to high waters, waves and powerful ocean forces.
“We’ll probably get the best wave energy on the east coast south of Nantucket and Cape Cod,” said Rob Young, director of the Development Program Program Program at Western Carolina University. “You can capture waves from so many directions.”
As Erin’s centre passes approximately 270 miles east of Cape Hatteras, the hurricane is expected to produce large, 8-20 feet of destructive waves in the surf zone. These waves are above oceans, which are surged by 4 feet from dry ground, and can cause erosion and coastal flooding that can last for several days.
Danny Couch, from Outer Banks, can’t remember his last hit in the 20-foot wave, but he believes that in 2003 the wave could rival Hurricane Isabel.
Almost a year ago, Hurricane Ernest followed a similar path, continuing offshore. Within a few weeks, four homes had collapsed. In total, six homes were lost last year at Hatteras National Coast Cape, a federally protected land that stretches miles along the island’s chain’s beaches.
If another house, or two or three people, are lost to the sea at Erin’s wake, it is certain that they will stir another storm between residents and property owners about how to deal with this danger from the sea.
These challenges are “anywhere,” Young said, not just outside banks. For example, he referred to coastal communities in northeastern Florida in Flagler and St. John’s counties.
The system “is not balanced with the natural coastline,” he said.
“It’s sought, treasured, and costly.”
Geologist Olin Pilky once wrote that “the most dynamic property in the United States – the Barrier Islands is the most popular, treasured and expensive.”
The islands that became the Outer Banks, which border the North Carolina coast, first appeared 15,000 years ago when sea levels fell and the country’s coastline moved inwards from the continental shelf.
The couch was the boy the first time I saw the house fall into the sea. It was 1968, the real estate agent and former county commissioner said.
Several more houses collapsed in the early 1970s, Couch said. The pace of collapse has been featured since the 1990s.
“It’s not an isolated event anymore, it’s a new normal,” Couch said. “When you’re a kid, when you’re watching with friends, it’s exciting,” he said. “But you’re watching someone’s savings head towards the ocean.”
According to the National Coast, 11 homes have collapsed on the National Coast of Rodante since May 2020.
And it’s not just a house built directly on the beach anymore. According to Dare County real estate records, some of the now-threatening homes were originally several homes from the beach.
Erosion from both sides
“There have been constant changes in the coastline, but it’s not as fast as we’ve seen in the last two to three decades,” Young said. “That’s the result of rising sea levels.”
“Changes in sea levels drive changes in coastline,” he said. But he said, “It’s really important to remember that the problem is not a change in the coastline. The problem is that we want to be in those places.”
As water is likely to show when Erin strikes the coast, the islands face threats not only from the sea, but also from the vast waters of the West, Albemarle, Pamlico and Kalitac. Water levels are also rising in these channels.
The Alligator River National Wildlife Shelter has visible markers of sea level rise, such as the remains of docks that are where the edges of the land were once, and the rest of the docks excavating freshwater lowlands that have transitioned to salty coastal wetlands.
The waterways also have wind and surges, but can be washed Highway 12 towards the sea during storm and tidal events. The islands are eroding from both directions, according to a December report from the National Park Service on how to deal with the effects of threatened structures.
In some spots, the spit of land holding the highway can be less than 1,000 feet from sound to ocean to shrink.
Young said authorities have been trying to keep the highway in place since it was built. He said it has always been difficult and expensive to protect.
Countless other legal and insurance issues surround decisions about when private property can be blamed, and the rights of property owners and landlords to make money on summer rentals in many threatened homes.
The issue includes a discussion of whether insurance companies should pay to be demolished before they become a dangerous waste site with a line of sepsis.
Reports say sand covering dunes with sand is not necessarily a solution to beach conservation, and has disrupt the natural processes that help maintain the island.
Some communities have discovered that the multi-million-dollar beach rebate project hasn’t lasted as long as they wanted, Young said. A big storm can wash away a lot of sand in just a few hours.
Local, state and federal officials have been working on relief for decades, including multiple ed bones and new bridges, but they are still fighting the sand and the ocean.
Incredible erosion
Dare County, which lives an annual population of an estimated 37,000 people, has paid for its own project to restore sand to local beaches, Young said. But in Rodante, where 11 homes have collapsed on the national coast since May 2020, the county said it had turned down requests for another beach to be repaired.
“We have to start a conversation about where we can take a step back from the oceanfront at the Outer Bank,” Young said. He makes it clear that he does not suggest that outside banks will be abandoned.
“It just requires you to actually spend money on a sustainable place,” he said.
Resident and professional photographer Jenni Koontz has documented the changes. Through her lens, she sees the beauty of the glassy ocean and the gentle waves, as well as “sadness and devastation” that can occur in the day the rough seas arrive.
Some people find it difficult to understand how quickly the incredible erosion and sand that took place, then they jump to conclusions when they watch the viral video.
“People don’t understand the science behind photography,” she said. She hopes that over time her photos will help to draw more attention to the light-like outer bank, perhaps making a difference in its future.
USA Today’s national correspondent, Dinah Voyles Pulver, has been covering violent weather, the environment, climate change and other news for decades. Contact her at dpulver @usatoday.com or @dinahvp.
