If you are following my blog, 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.
To date, I've reviewed weather events and the impact they have on property owners living in the south, midwest and west. Yesterday, I examined weather events and their impact on homeowners in the northeast and I continue examining weather events in this region of the United States, today. Another large weather event that often has very heavy rain or snow associated with and can cause severe coastal and inland flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane-force winds, or blizzard conditions is a nor'easter. The name derives from the direction of the strongest winds which tend to originate in the northeast and blow to the southwest. The term nor’easter is most often used in the coastal areas of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
A classic “nor’easter” storm brought a severe blizzard to New England, New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area in February, 1978. Over 72 hours, the region was pummeled with several feet of snow. In the end, the storm was responsible for about 100 deaths and over 4500 injuries. Thousands more people were left homeless.
The mother of all nor’easters occurred in early March, 1962. Known as the Ash Wednesday Storm, the strong northeast winds, attack storm waves and over wash associated with this storm caused record flooding and beach erosion along the eastern seaboard extending from New England to Florida. Ocean City, Maryland was submerged under 4 feet of floodwater swept in by 70 mile per hour winds. In Delaware, 1,932 homes were damaged between Dewey Beach and Fenwick Island, and nearby islands, such as Chincoteague and Assateague, were entirely underwater with 1,200 homes destroyed and the famed wild pony population almost wiped out. While the nor'easter was decimating miles of shoreline with wind and waves along the eastern seaboard, in Virginia the Ash Wednesday storm dropped 42 inches of snow. By the time the Ash Wednesday storm moved on, it had caused 40 deaths, and generated $200 million in damages in its wake.
Maybe, just maybe, based on weather events, alone, the wisdom of developing much of New England and the Mid-Atlantic States also should be reevaluated. And, if I was writing this prior to the 1600’s you might have supporters, the indigenous Native Americans. Unfortunately, for Native Americans, they had too much quarrel amongst each other to put up much of a united front when the first Europeans made landfall. And, when Europeans introduced chemical warfare in the form of bubonic plague, chickenpox, cholera, the common cold, diphtheria, influenza, malaria, measles, scarlet fever, sexually transmitted diseases, small pox, typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis, and whooping cough, well, there was no putting that genie back into its bottle.
In summary, based on weather events, alone, it appears that it takes a gambler’s mentality to live and purchase property almost everywhere in these United States. With apologies to Woody Guthrie, “From California to the New York Island, From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream waters, This land was made for [the gambler in] you and me.”
There you have it. Wherever you live in the United States, you have the very real potential of confronting a major weather event that can be devastating to your home or homes in your community. Tomorrow, I address how we as homeowners deal with these momentous weather events. 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.
Comments