Isabel's Carolina Damage Rekindles Coast Debate

[senorpepr]

HATTERAS VILLAGE, N.C. (Reuters) - It took road crews two months and $7 million to reconnect Hatteras Village to the rest of North Carolina after Hurricane Isabel tore a new inlet in the fragile sand islands of the Outer Banks.

The decision to rebuild the stretch of Route 12, the main road along the barrier islands that form the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, rekindled debate on the rapid development of vulnerable communities here and elsewhere on the U.S. coasts.

Isabel's powerful waves cut a channel some 1,700 feet wide from the Atlantic Ocean to Pamlico Sound in an area where increasingly elaborate vacation homes have mushroomed despite the threat of annual hurricane seasons.

Earth-moving equipment is still pushing tons of sand at the north end of this village of some 300 residents, who were able to reach their homes only by boat after Isabel struck in mid-September. The storm caused more than $1 billion in insured losses to the U.S. east coast.

But the fresh asphalt on Highway 12 is evidence of the politically driven haste with which officials rushed to restore a road that many old-timers here believe will wash away again when the next big hurricane hits, instead of building a bridge that would allow water to flow through to the sound.

"Do I think we need a bridge there? Absolutely," said Dare County Commissioner Renee Cahoon when asked about the wisdom of spending $7 million to rebuild a road that is probably doomed. "The problem was time. People needed access to their homes."

The questions facing North Carolina officials as they consider how and what to rebuild after Isabel are questions confronting politicians and bureaucrats in every U.S. coastal county as Americans continue their trek to the shore.

GROWTH ON THE COAST

According to U.S. government figures, 55-60 percent of U.S. residents live in counties adjacent to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. That figure is likely to rise to 75 percent by 2025.

As an example, the population of Dare County, which embraces much of the Outer Banks, grew 328 percent from 1970 to 2000, compared to 58 percent for the state as a whole.

As costly homes, hotels, condominiums and commercial buildings are constructed along the seashore, the potential rises for calamitous losses from natural disasters.

Experts believe Hurricane Andrew, which caused about $25 billion damage when it hit Miami's modest southern suburbs in 1992, would have cost $60 billion had it struck the towers of Miami Beach and downtown Miami 25 miles north.

In North Carolina, hurricanes and the eroding sands of the Outer Banks threaten billions of dollars in coastal property. Yet explosive construction has lined the once-quaint beach towns of Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Hatteras with expensive three-story vacation homes.

"Very powerful and very wealthy people live along the beaches," said Orrin Pilkey, a Duke University geology professor and leading authority on the shifting Outer Banks.

"The politically correct thing to do is rush in and help these people who have suffered from an act of God," he said, explaining why disaster agencies spend millions to repair roads, bridges and buildings for the few people who live here. "They have to face the fact people can't be helped sometimes."

On a recent day, Jeff and Katie Oden surveyed the remains of their Sea Gull Motel in Hatteras Village. One building was swept by the tidal surge into the street, leaving only a red brick staircase standing. Another building was buried in sand.

Proprietors of a family business in the same seaside spot for 50 years, the Odens were not sure they will rebuild.

"I don't know what we'll do. This is a pretty piece of property. We'd hate to see it go to waste," Jeff Oden said. "We're not really up to building another motel," Katie added.

[Anonymous]

A bridge to the mainland is a good idea.

[Hurricanehink]

I agree. Driving down there is a huge pain. If they build more bridges, and didn't have ferries, it would be so much better. I went down there in April, and it took 45 minutes to get from Hatteras Island to Okrakoke, only like 10 miles away. If they had a bridge to there, and one also to the mainland, it would be great! I hate how it is now, and when the next one hits, they'll have to do it again.

[mitchell]

A bridge to the mainland is a good idea.

Not sure I agree with that line of thinking...The OB are transient, dynamic land forms. Barrier islands are by nature remote (i.e. separated from the mainland by bays and from themselves by inlets) Making them readily accessible to be mainland by high speed roads just turns them into bedroom communities for mainland cities and makes expensive shore protection projects mandatory (due to the urbanization) and eventually destroys the beautiful natural landform that was the whoole point in the first place.

I can't imagine a worse fate for a place like Rodanthe, NC than to build a high speed causeway that places it within an hour's drive of the Virginia Beach/Norfolk metro area.

[Hurricanehink]

Mitchell, a lot of people are already living there. More and more people are going to go there, so why not make it more convinient. Trust me, though, most barrier islands are no longer remote. I live on one, and it wouldn't hurt to get a high speed causeway here. Suppose another hurricane did hit there, it would take forever to evacuate Okrakoke island through Nag's Head. It would help to have bridges.

P.S. My 100th post!!!! I am now a tropical low.

[mitchell]

Yeah, thats the other side of the argument...I agree its difficult. If you want to set the outer banks on a course for Myrtle Beach status, build convenient highways to the remote areas. I agree that (and multi-million dollar beachfill projects) will make things safer.

[Anonymous]

THINK ABOUT IT.... Isabel could have hit the Outer Banks as a 125 mph to 145 mph hurricane. It hit at 105 mph and look at the damage!!! A bridge would make evacuating MUCH easier, don't you think?