Posted on 08/31/2010 5:44:04 PM PDT by Doogle
officials are ordering tourists and residents to leave a barrier island accessible only by ferries as powerful Hurricane Earl heads toward the U.S. coast.
Hyde County emergency management officials plan a Wednesday morning evacuation of Ocracoke Island. The decision came late Tuesday, as the hurricane whipped across the Caribbean with winds of up to 135 mph.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Surge in Ferry traffic predicted for your neck of the woods. (or swamp)
School has already started in NC and the season is on it’s final week. Hopefully the evac won’t cause woes for the merchants.
Are these the islands with the wild ponies? Do they have a good survival rate/chance during hurricanes?
...the Wright Brothers Memorial, Rodanthe (as in Night in Rodanthe), Lost Colony....all in the same area.
I hope the ponies are okay. I grew up reading Misty of Chincoteague. :)
Ocracoke is a low lying Island, ocean on one side and the sound on the other.....I used to go fishing in September or October there with friends, catching big blues. It is a great place to have a vacation Either you catch the Cedar Island ferry, or the Swans Quarter Ferry, or the one to
Nags Head.....no way out umless you own your boat.
Our week in Kitty Hawk begins on Friday afternoon. The small ocean front place we rent is ocean-going at high tide...hope it’s still there later this week.
I just saw an update and they are still not certain of anything.
Run away! Run away!
Earl never made it into the Caribbean. More fine work from journalists.
I saw what Ike did to my area with a seawall, those barrier islands doesn’t have any protection. These people need to leave now!
Hatteras locals are staying. I think they are nuts.
Wild horses... We were out there earlier this Summer. You can be hanging out on the beach, and out of nowhere, wild horses will come over a dune from out of nowhere, and go walking up the beach. A very awesome sight! (I have some pics somewhere).
I'm sure the horses will be fine. They are probably used to 'roughing it' during horrible conditions.
They may be referring to the length of the trip if you go from Okra to Hatteras and drive over the bridge.
You are right about that! The newer, more 'developed' areas on the OBX are elevated well above the water level. The 'older areas' are right there on the beach. Many homes just barely above the water level. It would be nearly suicide to stay there during a terrible storm.
You might want to visit this site: http://www.assateagueisland.com/ponyswim/ponyswim.htm
The pony swim was in July. When really bad storms come, I believe there is a group that heads out to the island and gets the horses rounded up to swim across to the mainland. Just like they do for the annual swim/round up.
bttt
There are wild horses on the outerbanks.
These are million dollar homes and they have hurricane shutters with the press of a button.
Me too! I grew up in Va. and our Dad once took us to Asateague to see the ponies swim to Chincatigue (or was it the other way around?) Anyway, it’s one of my fondest memories (I was around 5). I wanted to find Misty and Starlite (or Seabright? 5 was nearly 40 yrs. ago for me) and take them home! I read all of Magaruite Henry’s books...
Jim went on to say the residents weren't considering the "debris" that will be flying around..:)
We'll see tomorrow.
/mark and Prayers
Thanks for that description! The Outer Islands are one of the top spots in the US I would love to visit.
On a related note, do you like fantasy fiction? You sound like an ideal beta reader for a story I wrote, set on the S. Carolina coast.
Thanks for your reply—you’ve given me something to look up with my favorite search engine. ‘Night in Rodanthe’ sounds intriguing!
Thank you SO much! That is more and better info than I could have hoped for. Thanks especially for the link. I can’t wait to check it out!
A kindred spirit! I LOVE M. Henry’s books. [One problem: when I was little, I thought her book on horse breeds was exhaustive. When I got older and started hearing about breeds she didn’t mention, I had some momentary but very real confusion. ;) ] It’s amazing that you actually got to see the ponies swim. I hope to see that myself one day.
I read your homepage, btw. It’s a shame about that Brit. Were you able to get your kitty back? Wazoo is such a cool name!
the two ferries that run to Cedar Island and to Swanquarter (and also charge a fare) take about that amount of time....the free ferry back to Hatteras (or to Ocracoke) takes a little less than 30 minutes...and is "free"...
the ferries, your own boat, or your own private plane
suppose to be a beautiful weekend....not sure what the electricity situation, or the sand on the roads, will be though...looks like the worst is going be between sundown tonight, and sunrise tomorrow...
The storm will be long gone by Friday afternoon. The weekend should be sunny!
sw
Yeah and they still are saying they don’t know about it’s direct path or turn. Which could leave Oak Island NC not evacuated if this monster causes more than tropical winds in certain areas.
I saw that. LOL. After the amount of money paid to insurance it becomes a moot point. Debris still won’t penetrate the glass and or hurricane shutters.
Cantore likes to be dramatic.
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