part 3 of 4: hurricane earl!
a week after lauren and andrew visited, we were amidst prepping the house for wave three of visitors when hurricane earl threatened to strike our coast. earl was a strong category 4 hurricane when our town here ordered a mandatory evacuation late the night before it was to sweep through. since we live literally on a huge sand bar island, there is only one bridge as access. we didn't want to take our chances in becoming stranded so we evacuated inland. earl did eventually weaken into a category 2, thank goodness, so the most damage we encountered on our property were branches scattered all over the lawn (those up north more, near cape hatteras, experienced more damage than us as they are even moreso on a delicate sandbar that reaches out further into the atlantic). even so, we took all precautionary steps necessary in case earl had remained stronger and/or were to have made landfall: we quickly hurricane-proofed our house, moved any and all outside belongings inside, strapped down various possessions, double-checked our insurance coverage, and gathered items for a hurricane emergency kit in case we were to have come back to the island afterward with no power or electricity. being the sand bar that it is, emerald isle is prone to flooding so even if we were to have hunkered down like we later on realized we could have (and like we wanted to all along - what's cooler than hunkering down in a storm?!?!), our cars still would have been jeopardized by possible flash storm surge. at least next time we know what to expect and we will definitely be riding the next hurricane out if it is anything like earl!
this has been the most active hurricane season in a while, but luckily none have yet made landfall while we have been here. hurricane season in the atlantic extends from june 1st through november 30th. fun facts: the last hurricane to have made landfall in north carolina was hurricane ophelia (category 1) back in 2005. hurricane isabel was the most recent category 5 hurricane that swept through our coast in 2003. it is tradition to write messages to the looming hurricane on the boards used to board up windows - we saw several messages to earl referencing isabel.
sunrise a few mornings before earl hit. beautiful!
shirley taking a quick break from her daily beach walk to bask in the morning sun rays
"pink sky at night, sailor's delight; pink sky at morning, sailor's warning" is the old maritime way of gauging the weather. it proved true! this is capturing pink sky above our house the night before earl brushed past us.
early prepping stages - getting all water bottles clean and ready
our hurricane 2010 emergency kit! we are fully prepared. we also filled up both bathtubs fully with water in the event plumbing was out due to earl - excellent tip to know. we didn't know what to expect - can you blame us? we are northerners at heart; give us a blizzard anytime and we know what to do as we're so used to it! some friends have humorously commented on how we are forever plagued with bad weather, considering our wedding occurred the day after a major mn blizzard...and now we live on prime hurricane coast!
hurricane early during its category 4 stage. note where hatteras is - emerald isle is just below hatteras
earl the night before. we are the red pin!
our beach entrance the morning before. red flag designates no swimming due to hazardous rip currents caused by earl
ocean waves, the morning before. getting big!
upon evacuating inland, we spotted numerous red cross disaster relief vehicles all ready to go
shirley's temporary bed on the hotel cot
hey! she snuck into our bed!
strange, strange message on some sketch van in the parking lot...
what earl was turning out to be as the night progressed. we are the green pin.
aftermath: dozens and dozens of tires washed up on our shore from hurricane earl. what happened was that these tires were a part of an artificial reef program back in the 1970s for a reef just off the beach. they were apparently used for fish habitats and to produce attractive fishing grounds
close-up of the washed up reef tires
a week after lauren and andrew visited, we were amidst prepping the house for wave three of visitors when hurricane earl threatened to strike our coast. earl was a strong category 4 hurricane when our town here ordered a mandatory evacuation late the night before it was to sweep through. since we live literally on a huge sand bar island, there is only one bridge as access. we didn't want to take our chances in becoming stranded so we evacuated inland. earl did eventually weaken into a category 2, thank goodness, so the most damage we encountered on our property were branches scattered all over the lawn (those up north more, near cape hatteras, experienced more damage than us as they are even moreso on a delicate sandbar that reaches out further into the atlantic). even so, we took all precautionary steps necessary in case earl had remained stronger and/or were to have made landfall: we quickly hurricane-proofed our house, moved any and all outside belongings inside, strapped down various possessions, double-checked our insurance coverage, and gathered items for a hurricane emergency kit in case we were to have come back to the island afterward with no power or electricity. being the sand bar that it is, emerald isle is prone to flooding so even if we were to have hunkered down like we later on realized we could have (and like we wanted to all along - what's cooler than hunkering down in a storm?!?!), our cars still would have been jeopardized by possible flash storm surge. at least next time we know what to expect and we will definitely be riding the next hurricane out if it is anything like earl!
this has been the most active hurricane season in a while, but luckily none have yet made landfall while we have been here. hurricane season in the atlantic extends from june 1st through november 30th. fun facts: the last hurricane to have made landfall in north carolina was hurricane ophelia (category 1) back in 2005. hurricane isabel was the most recent category 5 hurricane that swept through our coast in 2003. it is tradition to write messages to the looming hurricane on the boards used to board up windows - we saw several messages to earl referencing isabel.
sunrise a few mornings before earl hit. beautiful!
shirley taking a quick break from her daily beach walk to bask in the morning sun rays
"pink sky at night, sailor's delight; pink sky at morning, sailor's warning" is the old maritime way of gauging the weather. it proved true! this is capturing pink sky above our house the night before earl brushed past us.
early prepping stages - getting all water bottles clean and ready
our hurricane 2010 emergency kit! we are fully prepared. we also filled up both bathtubs fully with water in the event plumbing was out due to earl - excellent tip to know. we didn't know what to expect - can you blame us? we are northerners at heart; give us a blizzard anytime and we know what to do as we're so used to it! some friends have humorously commented on how we are forever plagued with bad weather, considering our wedding occurred the day after a major mn blizzard...and now we live on prime hurricane coast!
hurricane early during its category 4 stage. note where hatteras is - emerald isle is just below hatteras
earl the night before. we are the red pin!
our beach entrance the morning before. red flag designates no swimming due to hazardous rip currents caused by earl
ocean waves, the morning before. getting big!
upon evacuating inland, we spotted numerous red cross disaster relief vehicles all ready to go
shirley's temporary bed on the hotel cot
hey! she snuck into our bed!
strange, strange message on some sketch van in the parking lot...
what earl was turning out to be as the night progressed. we are the green pin.
aftermath: dozens and dozens of tires washed up on our shore from hurricane earl. what happened was that these tires were a part of an artificial reef program back in the 1970s for a reef just off the beach. they were apparently used for fish habitats and to produce attractive fishing grounds
close-up of the washed up reef tires
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