The Latest, Greatest Storm

I drove away from it as it wound up on Thursday. Had to go down to Morehead City for a training. The Weather Channel was proud to name it Nor'Ida---part of their TV ratings grabbing circus passing through our small beach towns. You know the drill: pull your hood up, strike a wind and blowing rain resisting pose before a camera and break into a rage about how terrible it is and that no one, absolutely no one should be out in this stuff unless you absolutely have to.

How terrible a storm like this is lies somewhere at each end of this spectrum---if your home or business is badly damaged, it's a disaster---if your home or business is untouched or holds up, it's just a bunch of wind and rain. Boring. Maybe you can't get to work for a few days and then life goes on. We clean up, make repairs and mark time by debating beach nourishment until the next storm or stormette.

Meanwhile the circus flies through every once in a while. Cantore's in town. More footage of homes falling into the surf in Kitty Hawk north of what long-time locals used to call "Old Station", and what newer-comers now call the "Black Pelican"(restaurant). We'll see these over and over again all year as lead-ins for Weather Channel features. Unlike regular news-reporting channels we can't be saved from this visual repetition even if some new guy named Peterson murders his wife.

So I drive back today from my visit to the Crystal Coast calling friends living at various vantage points along our coast. They report this: South Nags Head, standing water and debris on the beach road, police guarding streets to the oceanfront where damage was heaviest, several houses have fallen, one or more in the ocean, at least one smashed and pushed back in a pile at Surfside Drive, building inspectors condemning homes whose septic systems are compromised, public water supply lines broken, or have structural foundation damage; Kitty Hawk, Beach Road closed north of Old Station/Black Pelican, sand and standing salt and rain water still on the Beach Road; Hatteras Island, Route 12 impassable between Pea Island, about a mile south of Oregon Inlet's Bonner Bridge and Rodanthe about to Lisa's Pizza, road buried by sand and standing water, some road sections broken and completely gone; Dare County schools were canceled for Thursday and Friday, 15 inches of rain fell.

Early Friday evening wave height at the Duck data buoy offshore was over 20 feet with a dominant period of around 15 seconds. Around 9:30 p.m. the wave height had dropped to 18+ feet at 11 seconds. The wave period is the amount of time it takes for the troughs of waves to pass a fixed point (like a buoy). That means a big, hulking swell. We were impressed.

Back in town, I picked my way down the Beach Road in Nags Head headed for Kill Devil Hills starting at Gull Street---debris and some standing water. Left the Beach Road right before Surfside Plaza as the ocean always overwashes the low dunes where the really old shingle-style Victorian homes hang on year after year. Don't want to drive my old Subaru wagon through up to 8 inches of salt water.

I continued north on the by-pass returning to the Beach Road at Barnes Street and stayed north. I pulled into the Martin Street beach access for a look at the beach. A quick glance showed bobbing wood debris in the beach break drifting north in the current. The road was clear down to Prospect Street east of the Wright Memorial, simply called "the monument" by locals. I could see vehicles slogging through deep standing water north of here. This too was most likely salt water which had come through at the 1st and 2nd Street beach accesses just like it usually does.

There's a steady drizzle outside right now. Maybe tomorrow will give us relief from this crappy weather.