As mentioned in the previous seven blogs, I am in the midst of answering the question: Why would anyone want to live on a coastal 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 am focusing 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.
“Run me out in the cold rain and snow, rain and snow.” Yes, I’ve managed to insert yet another lyric of the Grateful Dead and we are only on blog #8 in this series. But, anyone who's ever lived in a chilly climate knows snow and snowstorms well. Sometimes the weather forecasters give ample warning, but other times these storms catch us by surprise. Plows struggle to keep roads clear, schools are closed, flights are cancelled, and everyone gets sore backs or worse from all the shoveling and snow blowing. In the spirit of full weather disclosure, I didn’t want to neglect any section of America so let’s examine some historic weather events in the northeastern section of this great country.
The Blizzard of 1888 struck in early March. It started out as a serious rain storm but as the temperature plummeted, the rain turned to snow. In the end, the storm, also known as the Great White Hurricane, paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Snowfalls of 10 to 58 inches fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet. Railway and telegraph lines were disabled, and this provided the impetus to move these pieces of infrastructure underground. New York City was especially hard hit with the 36-hour blizzard dumping some 40 inches of snow on the city. For several weeks, the city was virtually isolated from the rest of the country by the massive snowdrifts. More than 400 people died during the storm, including more than 100 who were lost at sea.
Nearly one hundred years later, the Great Blizzard of 1978, also known as the Great White Hurricane, was a historic winter storm that struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions from Wednesday, January 25 through Friday, January 27. The storm initially began as rain, but quickly changed over to heavy snow during the pre-dawn hours of January 26th. Classified as a severe blizzard, the most severe grade of winter storm, snowfalls of up to 40 inches fell over the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and southeastern Wisconsin. Winds gusted up to 100 miles per hour and wind chill values reached −60 °F across much of Ohio where 51 of the total 70 storm-related deaths occurred.
In 1993, an early March storm surged up the east coast of the United States, unleashing snow and wind on a wider area than any other storm in recorded history. Massive snowfalls were recorded from eastern Canada to Alabama impacting all or parts of 26 states and about half of the U.S. population, resulting in over two hundred and seventy deaths.
More recently, a crippling and historic blizzard in January, 2016 blanketed seven Mid-Atlantic and Northeast States with up to 3 feet of snow. Approximately 103 million people were affected by the storm, with 33 million people cowering under blizzard conditions. States deployed millions of gallons of brine and thousands of tons of road salt to lessen the storm's effect on roadways. A travel ban was instituted for New York City and northern New Jersey and more than 13,000 airplane flights were cancelled. At least 55 people were killed in storm-related incidents.
I could go on but I think it is abundantly clear that moving to the north and/or northeast parts of the United States does not mitigate weather events from threatening your home. But, I'm not done with weather events for the northeast as you will learn in tomorow's blog. 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.
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