A Hard Springtime

 This year the storms of springtime have been especially hard on the island.  We seem to have another high tide storm every week or so.  The surf is extremely high and ocean overwash is repeated.

With every storm centered high tide, we seem to have ocean over wash and the road to the Hatteras ferry is closed until it is put back together again. This is actually the road with ocean overwash.

The project underway now is to fill about eight hundred giant sandbags and use them to rebuild the base of the dune system where the island is very narrow at the north end.  It is fascinating to watch this process as the sand is pumped with water into the bags and then it drains out leaving them sand filled. 

Finally, it is hoped, the sand will fill in and the dune will hold once again. It is an endless process that happens over and over again.

Why is this happening?  Two things seem to be in play.  One is that barrier islands naturally migrate from north to south.  This is all at the extreme north end of the island where the island gradually gets smaller.  In fact, more than forty years ago, the present road was relocated totally moving it west to where it is today.  What we need is to move the ferry landing south and let nature be in charge.  Meanwhile, at the south end of the island, the beach is wide and the dunes are abundant.

The other factor is play is, of course, sea level rise.  We watch and wonder whether all this is cyclical or is an unchangeable part of global warming.  Still…we live here.