Written in sand (taxpayers to rebuild access to vacation homes lost in hurricane)

Richmond Times Dispatch ^ | Sep 29, 2003 | BILL GEROUX

[putupon]

Written in sand
Storms repeatedly open and close inlets on Hatteras

BY BILL GEROUX
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Sep 29, 2003

From the air, it's easy to see how Hurricane
Isabel ripped a new inlet between the
village of Hatteras and the rest of the
island, severing North Carolina Route 12.
DON LONG/TIMES-DISPATCH

From the air, it's easy to see how Hurricane Isabel ripped a new inlet between the village of Hatteras and the rest of the island, severing North Carolina Route 12. DON LONG/TIMES-DISPATCH HATTERAS, N.C. - The new inlet is a nasty piece of work.

It is a gash one-third of a mile long isolating the main part of Hatteras Island from this storm-battered village at the island's southern tip.

It ranges in depth from 2 feet to 30, and it changes constantly. It contains two ragged islands topped with crumpled asphalt from North Carolina Route 12, the only road that led to the village.

At high tide, the ocean roars through the inlet into Pamlico Sound in a confusion of whitecaps and breaking surf.

A half-submerged house far out in the sound only adds to the rawness of the scene.

The inlet was created on Sept. 18, most likely during the early afternoon hours, when Hurricane Isabel was at its worst.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has predicted it will get the inlet plugged within 3? weeks, by Oct. 24. The Corps has summoned a huge dredge it says can fill the inlet with sand faster than the ocean can steal it.

The senior Corps commander, Col. Ray Al- exander, says the gap in the island is a "breach" rather than a natural process at work. At a meeting in Hatteras on Saturday, he dismissed critics of the project as "nay-sayers."

But Alexander acknowledged that the Corps already has changed its project on the fly, and that subsequent storms or equipment problems could complicate things.

"Engineering is a science," he said. "But there are a lot of variables and a lot of unknowns to what we're working with."

..........................................................................................................

Oregon and Hatteras inlets, which many people today consider permanent parts of the landscape, were opened by the same huge hurricane in 1846.

Another monster hurricane in 1933 tore open an inlet in the same spot as Hurricane Isabel did, said former Dare County Sheriff Bert Austin, who was 2 at the time. Austin said a wooden bridge was built across that inlet to carry what few vehicles made the trip in those days.

"But after a number of years, the inlet filled in by itself, and people stopped using the bridge and went back to just driving along the sand," Austin said. The government finally burned the useless bridge in 1941 to harvest the metal in it for the war effort, he said.

As if to honor its predecessor, the new inlet opened by Hurricane Isabel exposed pilings from the old inlet bridge that had been hidden beneath the sand for a half-century. "Some of us knew they were down there somewhere," Austin said.

The most recent inlet on Hatteras Island before Isabel was cut in 1962 between Buxton and Avon by a fierce nor'easter popularly known as the Ash Wednesday Storm. The Corps struggled for nearly a year before it successfully closed that inlet with two small dredges.

Hurricane Dennis in 1999 opened a narrow breach in the island in roughly the same place as the Ash Wednesday Storm. That opening closed itself, and the state highway department quickly repaired Route 12 and reunited the island.

As one 50-something Hatteras native put it last week, "This isn't our first inlet."

.....................................................................................................................................................

Dr. Orrin Pilkey, a retired Duke University geologist and a frequent critic of engineering projects to protect beachfront development, said the new inlet might not stay closed.

Filling the gap should require somewhere between 600,000 and 1 million cubic yards of sand, Alexander said, depending on how fast the ocean steals what the dredge deposits.

Corps officials said the cost surely will exceed $3 million, most of it borne by FEMA.

Alexander said the Corps could reunite the island by Oct. 24 if all goes well. But, he said, any number of factors could affect the timetable, including the weather.

.........................................................................

[putupon]

surely will exceed $3 million, most of it borne by FEMA

Who funds FEMA and if I go build a house on sand, will they maintain the roads and access for me too?

[usafsk]

3M to repair a road is pretty small potatoes, compared to other uses of funds. Isabel caused about 1B in damage, a small amount. I'm sure that you drive on federally funded roads everyday. Are you in an earthquake zone? Does your power ever go out due to ice storms? Tornado? Give these people a break.

[Rebelbase]

"As if to honor its predecessor, the new inlet opened by Hurricane Isabel exposed pilings from the old inlet bridge that had been hidden beneath the sand for a half-century. "Some of us knew they were down there somewhere," Austin said"

There have been reports on some of the local online fishing boards that a buried shipwreck was exposed down toward Cape Lookout.

[John H K]

Another monster hurricane in 1933 tore open an inlet in the same spot as Hurricane Isabel did, said former Dare County Sheriff Bert Austin, who was 2 at the time. Austin said a wooden bridge was built across that inlet to carry what few vehicles made the trip in those days.

Monster? The 1933 hurricane was a Category ONE at landfall.

Same hurricane opened the Ocean City Inlet and made Assateague an Island in Maryland.

[autoresponder]

Wealthy summer home owners on NJ and Fire Island NY beaches expected the feds to pay for them to rebuild their beachfront homes at US taxpayer expense.

I compare this ripoff to those Mississippi cities that did not properly build strong dikes (insert Reno/Hillary joke here) and seawalls while others did.

They expected like most libs and furren nations that Uncle Sugar would pay to rebuild their homes and even towns again on higher ground at least.

Uncle Sugar seems to think it's OK to build on uninsurable property.

It is.

But no help from me.

Wealthy self-annointed lib elitist or old timer, no difference from me.

Their personal desires cannot reach into my pockets.

[John H K]

Long term, barrier Islands are not suitable locations for permanent human habitation; keeping them so will require ridiculous levels of funding subsidized by people in other locations.

We've been fooled since WWII, and especially since 1970 or so, by the lack of strong storms into thinking you can live there permanently.

They really should only have summer beach shacks, etc.

The problem is the explosion in gigantic, palatial permanent homes that get rebuilt by heavily-subsidized government insurance.

[xzins]

The wealth of the people in a neighborhood should not matter about the state maintaining roads and bridges it has determined ahead of time are state roads.

If a bridge washes out in a poor neighborhood, why should the state bebuild it? It might wash out again in another flood in the future. And bridges are very expensive, too.

I simply don't see why discrimination should occur because of the area's economic status.

[Blood of Tyrants]

The senior Corps commander, Col. Ray Al- exander, says the gap in the island is a "breach" rather than a natural process at work.

Last time I checked, a hurricane was a natural process.

[Maria S]

"Who funds FEMA and if I go build a house on sand, will they maintain the roads and access for me too?"

"If a bridge washes out in a poor neighborhood, why should the state bebuild it? It might wash out again in another flood in the future. And bridges are very expensive, too."


Would an engineer build a bridge on sand (in either a rich OR poor neighborhood)? A house, maybe, but a bridge? Just wondering...I'm certainly no building engineer, so just asking.

[Blood of Tyrants]

P.S. But I haven't checked DU's ERC (Evil Republican Conspiracy) page lately.

[TomB]

taxpayers to rebuild access to vacation homes lost in hurricane

You addendum to the title is misleading. The government isn't rebuilding a private access to "vacation homes", it is rebuilding N.C. highway 12, a state road. There are hundreds of people who live there permanantly, in a community that goes back to 1858.

[mewzilla]

Well, if you think this is bad, Virginia Beach has just finished spending tens of millions on expanding its beachfront. Don't know how much of that was federal money, but after Izzy I imagine they'll be back at the trough asking for more.

[DustyMoment]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Flood insurance is provided ONLY by the feds and, when hurricanes damage ocean-front property, Uncle Sugar encourages the home-owners to rebuild - at taxpayer expense.

John S- (can't think of his last name) the ONLY conservative at ABC (he reports on that "news" show with Baba Wawa) did a report on this a few years ago. He used to own ocean-front property that was demolished in a hurricane and the feds gave him the money to rebuild. A few years later, another stormed wiped it out again. The feds came along with their checkbooks open, but this time he refused. He didn't think the taxpayers should have to pay for his housing.

[xzins]

I doubt an engineer would build a bridge on the sand.

However, the state will build roads to the strangest places. If there are people living there, then they'll build roads to it.

They shouldn't base that on the wealth of those living there. They shouldn't discriminate against the rich, nor should they discriminate against the poor. Especially when they're talking about restoring a long-standing road; not building a new one.

[putupon]

Who is forcing those people to live on that thin strip of sand that always washes out?

[Corin Stormhands]

I have less of a problem with rebuilding the road than I do with rebuilding the million dollar homes in places like Corolla. I would hate to see access to the Hatteras Lighthouse and Ocracoke cut off completely.

[mewzilla]

Well, I don't know about in your neck of the woods but around here lots of people pay for private roads that only the owners use. Why should the taxpayer pay for a nice, paved road to someone's lake cottage?

[xzins]

That isn't really the issue.

The issue is this whether it's illegal for them to live there, and if not, why they shouldn't be treated with equality and not with discrimination.

Besides, WHEN was the last time this area washed out? 1933? That's the same time as the great flood in Ohio (1937). It washed out a lot of roads and bridges. We had a repeat flood in 1997 that washed out some of the same areas. No one even questioned rebuilding them.


Rich people are citizens, too.

[mykdsmom]

NC Ping!

[xzins]

Because if you look at the picture you'll see it isn't just one guy's cottage. It's a lot of people.

Rich people deserve equal treatment under the law as much as anyone else.

In fact, I'd like to be a rich person some day. At that time, I'd like to be treated fairly.

[FateAmenableToChange]

bump for later read

[putupon]

There are hundreds of people who live there permanantly, in a community that goes back to 1858.

Six hundred people live there at their own choice in a place that is known to wash out with hurricane after hurricane. The tax dollars that are taking care of them are not removed from others who live and work in a more stable environment at their own choice voluntarily.

[JoeGar]

The problem is the explosion in gigantic, palatial permanent homes that get rebuilt by heavily-subsidized government insurance.

True. One solution is to do away with taxpayer-subsidized, relatively cheap National Flood Insurance. If a homeowner had to pay the cost of "real" insurance, most could not afford it and most would not build an uninsured home at a place where it is likely to be destroyed.

[Constitution Day]

FYI

[TomB]

Six hundred people live there at their own choice in a place that is known to wash out with hurricane after hurricane. The tax dollars that are taking care of them are not removed from others who live and work in a more stable environment at their own choice voluntarily.

How about people who live by their own choice near a river? Or in tornado alley? Or in an area that consistenly gets FEET of lake effect snow (helloooooo Buffalo). Or in an earrhquake zone?

Are you making yourself the arbiter where we can and can't live? If there is a STATE ROAD that is washed out, the people who pay taxes can expect that road to be fixed.

And NOTHING of what you said makes your misleading title any more truthful.

Geez, take a valium.

[Redbob]

This is just another "welfare" program for wealthy beachfront landowners - except that Hatteras Island isn't even a real island.
It's a barrier island, no more than an exposed sandbar, subject to shifting and rearrangement by nature, and we have no business subsidizing the handful of people who choose to live there.

If the residents want to pay for the filling, or for a bridge like they did in '33, fine, let them.

[Redbob]

"I would hate to see access to the Hatteras Lighthouse and Ocracoke cut off completely."

Boats work there, don't they?

[putupon]

Geez, take a valium.

Don't need to. I'm moving to the beach and relax, knowing you're going pick others pockets to pay for it.

[Redbob]

"One solution is to do away with taxpayer-subsidized, relatively cheap National Flood Insurance."

I'm with you on that.
There was little construction of any sort on South Padre Island here in Texas, no hotels, no "permanent" dwellings until the early '80's (I think it was) when they extended federal insurance to that barrier island.

Now it looks like Panama City, and all Americans will foot the bill when the next hurricane comes through there.

[TomB]

knowing you're going pick others pockets to pay for it.

Actually, when you look at the immense amount of money the Outer Banks pumps into the coffers of the state of North Carolina and the Counties of Dare and Currituck, the government is coming out ahead.

[putupon]

How about people who live by their own choice near a river?

They buy insurance if they have any sense, and the roads are still there because there is still there after the flood recedes. Tornado people with any sense have storm cellars, and again, there is still there after the tornado goes away.

You make the choice of where you live. No one in the United States outside of the prison system is forced to live at a given location at gunpoint.

Comparisons between inland floodplains and tornado regions to a pile of sand in the ocean is apples and oranges.

[Corin Stormhands]

Heck, I drop a couple grand in Dare County every summer. That outta be good fer a couple of truck loads of sand.

[putupon]

the Outer Banks pumps into the coffers of the state of North Carolina

My brother-in-law's place in Kitty Hawk is still there, Nags Head is still there, Ocracoke is still there. Corolla is still there, Kill Devil Hills are still there, as are the huge National Park, Rodanthe, etc.. The Ferrys haven't sunk.

Fighting a battle w/ nature that you know you can't win to try and save one dinky sandbar doesn't make alot of sense to me.

[TomB]

My brother-in-law's place in Kitty Hawk is still there, Nags Head is still there, Ocracoke is still there. Corolla is still there, Kill Devil Hills are still there, as are the huge National Park, Rodanthe, etc.. The Ferrys haven't sunk.

Yes, all pumping MILLIONS of dollars into the economy and government coffers. Thank you for making my point.

Fighting a battle w/ nature that you know you can't win to try and save one dinky sandbar doesn't make alot of sense to me.

Considering the area has been inhabited for over 150 years, with very little inconvenience, I'd say your assertion that they are "Fighting a battle w/ nature that you know you can't win" is erroneous.

[xzins]

This might be a surprise, but almost everybody lives someplace....otherwise, they're no place at all!

So, if there's a state road to a certain location, there shouldn't be some arbitrary decision to stop maintaining it just because RICH people (shock..gasp...aghast) live there. Rich people are citizens, too, deserving of all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities apertaining thereunto.

I can't believe freepers are hitting on the rich and acting so damn jealous.

"Why that's just a TAX BREAK for the rich!" (Tom Daschle, all his life....but never about his own wife.)

The top 5% of taxpayers pay over 50% of the taxes in this country. Those rich folks in the Hatteras area probably account for big bucks dropped, businesses built, developers encouraged, etc., etc.

Run them out AND you're running out prosperity.

Democrat: Discriminate against the rich.
Republican: Encourage productivity and wealth.

[TomB]

They buy insurance if they have any sense

Uh, flood insurance is subsidized by the Federal Government.

and the roads are still there because there is still there after the flood recedes.

Oh really? Not in my experience. Raging flood waters easily undermine roads. Not to mention all the other damamge to infrastructure floods cause. How about bridges?

Tornado people with any sense have storm cellars, and again, there is still there after the tornado goes away.

What does "there is still there" mean? If you mean the people are still there, yes, but the house is gone, along with powerlines, telephone service, etc. All to be rebuilt with the help of the government dime.

You make the choice of where you live. No one in the United States outside of the prison system is forced to live at a given location at gunpoint.

Yep. And as long as people choose to live in flood plains, tornado-prone areas, heavy snow belts, fault zones, etc, your complaint that a STATE road is being rebuilt is specious.

Comparisons between inland floodplains and tornado regions to a pile of sand in the ocean is apples and oranges.

Why?

[TomB]

So, if there's a state road to a certain location, there shouldn't be some arbitrary decision to stop maintaining it just because RICH people (shock..gasp...aghast) live there. Rich people are citizens, too, deserving of all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities apertaining thereunto.

I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the permanant residents of the Hatteras area in the past, and I wouldn't classify many of them as "rich". That is why the additional title is so misleading. This isn't just a private road to beachfront villas, it is a state road to a hard working village that is 150 years old.

[Corin Stormhands]

This isn't just a private road to beachfront villas, it is a state road to a hard working village that is 150 years old.

Exactly. The majority of the high dollar homes are up north in Corolla.

There's a lot of history on the OBX. And there's a lot of value (tourist dollar and otherwise) to people being able to drive to Hatteras.

[Hatteras]

"I would hate to see access to the Hatteras Lighthouse and Ocracoke cut off completely."

Ocracoke is an island already. Access hasn't been cut off completely. If they didn't rebuild the road (at taxpayer's expense) they would add another ferry route (and the days of free ferry rides are numbered).

[putupon]

it is a state road to a hard working village that is 150 years old.

Again, if they choose to live there, let them pay their own way.

I understand that all the people there, whether rich vacation folk or the hardworking watermen, are all very nice people. This not a class warfare thing, it's a whats fair is fair thing.

If they have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with paved road access, then I have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with convienent paved access too.

And what about Corolla?. Last I heard, they have no paved road access either.

If they can pave a road throught the national park to Hatteras, how come they can't pave a road through a national park to Corolla?

A person I know retired to Corolla a few years back, and he payed his own way to get there and build. Should the taxpayers have been responsible for his expenses also?

[Corin Stormhands]

You're right, I knew Ocracoke is an island. Maybe they don't consider another ferry feasible for this location. I dunno.

I have no problems with tolls for the ferry. Or even for the road. I've shelled out plenty of bucks to get across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

[Corin Stormhands]

And what about Corolla?. Last I heard, they have no paved road access either.

Depends on how far you go up. Road is paved up to the Corolla Light House (and perhaps a bit beyond). There's some mega bucks homes there.

[putupon]

but almost everybody lives someplace

But those who don't think they have the right to other people's money live somewhere that has jobs and roads to get to them that won't be washed out every time there is a Nor'easter.

Then they take what pocket change the social parasites leave behind and get to the beach one week out of the year, if they are lucky.

[xzins]

damn rich people....let's line 'em up and take ALL their money! and I don care if they're treated fair.

[putupon]

damn rich people....let's line 'em up and take ALL their money! and I don care if they're treated fair.

My father does fairly well. He doesn't expect the government to come in and take care of his extensive damages at business or home in Williamsburg.

Again, it's not class warfare, in spite of your attempts to spin it that way.

I don't think we should build subsidized businesses in Appalachia so the dirt poor laid off coal miners who refuse to move can get jobs either.

It's about investing your money on a sandbar lot in the ocean.

My brother-in-law's condo in Kitty Hawk made it through, but had the worst happened, it was insured with his own money.

Rich folks lose money in Vegas every day, you want the taxpayer to cover their loses too?

[xzins]

I know you're not spinning that it has to do with the government fixing their damaged houses.

But it could appear that way.

In fact, all that's asked is that the government repair a government maintained road that has been there for decades.

[TomB]

Again, if they choose to live there, let them pay their own way.

THEY DO!!! They pay taxes just like the rest of us.

This not a class warfare thing, it's a whats fair is fair thing.

Fair? You mean like taking away a road that has been there for over 50 years?

If they have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with paved road access, then I have the right to a taxpayer supported comfortable beachfront lifestyle with convienent paved access too.

IT ISN'T AN ACCESS ROAD!!! How many times do I have to say that? It is North Carolina Highway 12. It is a road just like any other one in the country.

And what about Corolla?. Last I heard, they have no paved road access either.

Then you are as behind the times as I thought. The road from the Dare County line to Corolla has been paved since the early 80s.

If they can pave a road throught the national park to Hatteras, how come they can't pave a road through a national park to Corolla?

See above and get a clue.

A person I know retired to Corolla a few years back, and he payed his own way to get there and build. Should the taxpayers have been responsible for his expenses also?

Apparently you don't know him very well.

And you are completely ignoring my points about floods, tornados, snow, earthquakes, etc. Can you please tell us where it is OK to live?

[putupon]

government maintained road that has been there for decades.

Which could be considered for a long term, relative to the particular section of the OBX that it's located. A bridge or ferry (that users, not some poor sap in the midwest who's never seen the ocean, pays for) could make sense, filling it up with sand and repaving seems like a very stupid decision, IMHO.

[xzins]

I'd say it depends, at least in part, on a cost/benefits analysis.

It depends to some degree on financial returns brought about by that road. That can be determined.

It also depends on simple fairness. Anytime a road stops being maintained by the state is not an arbitrary decision. It is a staffed decision; sometimes even a legislated decision.

This road should undergo that same decision making process.