Horrible Hermine & the OBX
Waves crashing into Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills.
It looks as though the Outer Banks is going to be dealing with the lingering effects of Tropical Storm Hermine through today and into tomorrow. And depending on what happens when as it heads out to sea, we may be dealing with the waves it generates for a few days after that. The forecast models have been consistent in showing the storm slowing down or even stalling off the coast of New Jersey and probably re-intensifying.
Kitty Hawk Pier.
The storm really seemed to put the Outer Banks in its sights last night. It’s odd, but psychologically I can get myself ready for the wind and the rain, intellectually know that experiencing the full force of a tropical storm or a hurricane is a study in discomfort. Yet for some reason I keep forgetting how noisy these storms are.
It is the sound of the wind, full throated in its fury, gusts slamming into the house, the house actually creaking slightly when that happens. A steady 40 to 45 mph wind and 50 or 60 mph wind gusts create a cacophony of sounds as it passes through trees. There is no way to quite describe what that’s like—the closest I can come, is to think of the wonderful sound of a breeze as it rustles tree leaves cranked up to 100 decibels.
The Beach Road. Flooded at high tide in Kitty Hawk.
Driving around this morning there was some damage, although it didn’t seem severe. Some siding had been stripped off the north side of the Hilton Garden Inn. The Woods Road in Kitty Hawk was a maze of downed trees and tree limbs, but the town of Kitty Hawk had crews out cleaning it up.
Southern Shores, with it’s treelined streets is reporting very difficult road conditions and they asked people to stay off the roads until the town has a chance to clear the streets.
At high tide this morning the Atlantic Ocean was right up to the base of the sand dunes north of Black Pelican
Downed tree, the Woods Road. Hermine doesn’t get full credit for blowing this one over. The heart of the tree looked dead.
, the most recent stretch of the Beach Road to be repaired. The dunes are holding up surprisingly well, but that comes with a caveat; if Hermine does stall and spin away off the coast of New Jersey, two or three days of storm tides will probably overwhelm the dunes.
It looks as though we still have a few hours of high winds and intermittent squalls, but overall, the report from the Outer Banks is a miserable 24 hours then back to being a vacation paradise.
Storm damage to the Hilton Garden Inn.
