Houses for Sale in Emerald Isle, NC 2

Why would anyone want to live on an island? After all, no less an authority than Orrin H. Pilkey, Jr., deemed "America’s foremost philosopher of the beaches," by the New York Times, and James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Geology at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University writes: “We strongly recommend against barrier island property purchase. Better to choose a high elevation inland site.”

Over the next few weeks, I will focus my blogs on drilling down into Pilkey's recommendation for several reasons. First, I live on a barrier island and I own two ocean front properties on that barrier island, Bogue Banks, in Emerald Isle, NC. And, I've owned these two properties for well over 20 years. Second, I am a real estate agent who sells real estate in Emerald Isle, NC and elsewhere on the Crystal Coast. Third, I know Dr. Pilkey's research intimately. Fourth, I know Dr. Pilkey, personally.

As the previous blog #I demonstrated, damage from most hurricanes is usually not restricted only to barrier islands. Indeed, damage is often more severe, inland. In this blog #2 I review a few other hurricanes which created severe havoc inland. On September 21, 1938, a powerful and destructive hurricane struck Long Island and Southern New England. Sustained hurricane force winds were felt across not only in the central and eastern portions of the barrier island, Long Island, but also across southeastern Connecticut and other regions of New England. The hurricane produced a destructive storm surge flooding as well as seven inches of rainfall.

In the popular coastal colony of Fenwick, Connecticut, the actress Katharine Hepburn spent the morning swimming in the swelling surf. In 1938, with no hurricane warning system, Hepburn had no idea that this was more than an ordinary storm. However, after the laundry wing fell off the back of her family house and the windows started to blow in, Katharine clambered out a dining room window into a foot and a half of rising water and reached higher ground just in time to turn and see the family summer home float away.

Deeper into the interior, this hurricane devastated a large tree farm, Quinebaug Forest, in northeastern Connecticut. Surveying acre upon acre of uprooted trees, the owners built charcoal kilns and started the Connecticut Charcoal Company. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons!

Since that time, other notable hurricanes have caused significant damage and loss of life on both barrier islands and the mainland. Camille, in 1969, slammed into the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Alabama causing in excess of $1.4 billion dollars in damages and killing 265 people. Inland, damage consisted of buildings leveled to the ground, fallen trees, flooded homes and washed out roads. Crop damage was extensive including total destruction of tung and pecan orchards.

A decade later Hurricane Frederic raked the very same Gulf coast to the tune of $2.3 billion dollars in damage.

Hurricane Hugo made landfall near Charleston September 22 1989, and was one of the most destructive hurricanes ever to affect South Carolina. Hugo's destruction wasn't limited to just South Carolina’s coastal commnities; seven hours after its final landfall, Hugo's center crossed Interstate 77 between Columbia and Charlotte and into North Carolina. Hugo's path across western North Carolina caused tremendous destruction to a region that rarely is affected by tropical system weather events. In all, Hugo was responsible for at least 86 fatalities and caused at least $8 to $10 billion in damage.

Hurricane Andrew measured a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale when it passed directly through the city of Homestead, in Miami-Dade County, south of Miami in mid-August, 1992.

Hugo was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit the state until Hurricane Irma surpassed it 25 years later. It was the costliest hurricane to make landfall anywhere in the United States until Katrina exceeded that cost estimate in 2005. Sustained wind speeds from Andrew as high as 165 mph stripped many homes of all but their concrete block foundations along not only along the coast and but also inland. In total, Andrew destroyed more than 64,000 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.3 billion in damage, and left 65 people dead.

Several hours later, the hurricane re-energized over the Gulf of Mexico and damaged oil platforms. After turning northwestward, Andrew damaged large portions of Louisiana destroying 27,000 homes, devastating agriculture and killing 187 million fresh water fish.

Hurricane Sandy, a late-season post-tropical cyclone, swept through the Caribbean and up the East Coast of the United States in late October 2012. Hurricane Sandy made landfall near the Jersey shore community of Seaside Heights on the evening of October 29th, with sustained winds exceeding 80 mph. A full moon amplified Sandy's storm surge. Streets were flooded, trees and power lines knocked down and the town’s famed boardwalk was ripped apart. Up and down the Jersey shore, piers and boardwalks were tossed like match sticks, and thousands of people were left waiting for rescue teams, in boats, to rescue them.

In New York City, seawater surged over lower Manhattan's seawalls and onto highways and into low-lying streets. The water flooded tunnels and subway stations and incapacitated electrical systems. In midtown, skyscrapers swayed and creaked in winds. Fires erupted in four out of five boroughs. Airlines cancelled nearly 20,000 flights and most gas stations in New Jersey and New York City were closed because of power outages and depleted fuel supplies. The storm left millions of people without power, thousands homeless and hundreds dead, including 42 in New York; 12 in New Jersey; nine in Maryland; six in Pennsylvania; five in West Virginia; four in Connecticut; two in Virginia; and one in North Carolina. One person died in Canada, and at least 67 people were killed in the Caribbean, including 54 in Haiti. Sandy ended up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, making it one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the United States.

I could go on but I think it is abundantly clear that moving inland does not mitigate wind and water weather events from threatening your home. That being said, to learn more about life in Emerald Isle, NC, go to my website, www.EIHomesforSale.com and request my free Guide to Living Were You Vacation or text your email address to: 919-308-2292.