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.
To support this recommendation, Pilkey cites hurricanes, their wind velocities, wave energies and associated flooding as reasons to head inland and history provides a preponderance of evidence to support his admonition. Hundreds of hurricanes have ravaged the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and associated barrier islands over the centuries.
To cherry pick a few, on September 8, 1900, a horrific hurricane took aim at Galveston Island a barrier island off the coast of southeastern Texas. Wind speeds exceeded 135 miles per hour. Storm surges rose 15 feet and, within hours, estimates of 6,000 to 12,000 unsuspecting people were killed and over 3,600 buildings were destroyed. The Galveston Hurricane remains, to this day, the deadliest natural disaster in United States history.
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. It 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 Statesuntil 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
Closer to where I reside on Bogue Banks in Carteret County, NC, you have to go back two generations to find a storm that left a comparable path of destruction. Along the Crystal Coast, Hazel is the benchmark for hurricanes, making landfall near Calabash as a Category 4 storm on October 15, 1954. The hurricane brought a storm surge of over 18 feet to a large area of the North Carolina coastline, producing severe coastal damage. Brunswick County’s south-facing barrier islands, including Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle, Holden Beach, Long Beach and Caswell Beach, took the full brunt of Hazel’s 140 mph winds, 18-foot storm surge and treacherous waves. As it flattened everything in its path, Hazel quickly earned a nickname: The Bulldozer. Trees snapped like dry spaghetti, littering highways by the thousands. Former soldiers likened the damage to a scene out of World War II.
In Carteret County, Hazel washed out numerous bridges and caused tremendous property damage. As in all catastrophes, heroes emerged from the rubble. Tony Seamon and his son, owners of the Sanitary Restaurant in Morehead City, drove to the restaurant during the storm and lashed the building to pilings and cut holes in the floor to keep pressure from the rising water from tearing the building from its moorings. Their effort saved the restaurant. After the storm, the men set up the Sanitary as a round-the-clock feeding center for work crews from as far away as Tennessee and Alabama doing cleanup in the area.
The damage from Hazel was not limited to the coast. The storm still had hurricane-strength winds when it roared through Raleigh. The Raleigh-Durham Airport reported sustained winds of 75 mph with gusts to 90 mph. Most of the rain associated with Hazel fell inland with some towns receiving as many as 11 inches of rain in under 24 hours. Before exiting North Carolina, Hazel left nineteen people dead and several hundred more injured; 15,000 homes were destroyed and another 39,000 were damaged, pegging property losses at $126 million.
As Hazel raced northward, its winds only slowly diminished. Wind gusts near 100 mph were reported from numerous inland locations in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. Peak gusts to over 90 mph were reported far to the north in New York State.
Based on weather events such as these, a strong argument could be made for requiring a gambler’s mentality and taking your chances on owning property on a barrier island. Most homeowners don’t want to gamble or take chances on their home, for obvious reasons. For these homeowners and, indeed, all homeowners, Pilkey’s recommendation to move inland makes sense.
Now, I have no quarrel with Pilkey’s research. Indeed, I relied on his pioneering studies on coastal barrier islands to purchase my ocean front properties in Emerald Isle, a coastal community located on Bogue Banks, a barrier island off the North Carolina coast. What I do have a quarrel with are some of his conclusions, especially when much of the damage described in the above hurricanes was inland of the coast. When you need more information on living on a barrier island, visit my website, www.EIHomesforSale.com for my free Guide to Living Where You Vacation or text your email address to: 919-308-2292.
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