This page includes posts
and pictures about Hurricane Isabel.
We are some kind of lucky sometimes.
Hurricane Isabel's landing in North Carolina and the
speed with which it blew itself inland helped keep the damage in Rehoboth
Beach down to only mild tropical storm levels.
Others in Delaware and elsewhere were
not so fortunate.
The strongest winds hit
us very late last night, but didn't seem to produce much except for some
downed tree branches and a whole lot of leaves and other minor debris.
As usual, the adage
"prepare for the worst, hope for the best" is still the right way to think
about preparations for these unpredictable events--sort of like the right
kind of national defense policy, if you think about it.
I posted some
post-Isabel pictures on
the hurricane page, for those interested.
Here's one that seemed to fit the situation well:
As shown below, the waves are mostly back to
normal, as are the crowds of seagulls begging for food from folks on the
Boardwalk:
Somebody expressed the view that perhaps the
media may have overblown the risks:
The TV satellite folks came back to do one of
those "after the storm" stories:
We have until November 1 until the end of the hurricane
season.
I can't wait.
We went out to see the
beach during the storm at about 2 o'clock this afternoon. Pretty impressive,
especially considering we're not supposed to see the biggest impacts for
another 4-8 hours. The skies really were just as dark as shown in these
photos.
This view looks south. The wave in the
background is at least 10 feet high.
This bar is one block back from the Boardwalk,
and the owners are apparently pretty hopeful despite the plywood.
The water is rushing under the Boardwalk's north
end. The howling winds made it hard to keep water off the lens.
A knot of hurricane sightseers huddle next to
the Dolles Candy Store, in a mostly vain attempt to avoid the driving rain
coming out of the northeast.
A large wave (12-15 feet) breaks just offshore.
The sign and ribbons block pedestrians from using the Boardwalk.
September 17, 2003
A little less calm before the storm
I went down to the Rehoboth Boardwalk late this
afternoon and took some pictures as Isabel works her way toward the coast.
This shot shows the wave action (about 4-5 feet)
at just before low tide. Winds were about 20 mph from the northeast, causing
some whitecapping.
The landmark Dolles candy store at the Boardwalk
and Rehoboth Avenue is partially boarded on the ocean side. One panel (third
from left) says it was used in the Storms of '92, '94, and '98, all fairly
vicious nor'easters.
Television broadcasting trucks, set up for the
obligatory shots from the beach during the lead-up to the hurricane hitting
the area. I tend to doubt this expensive equipment will be stationed here
when Isabel shows up.
Depending on the
state of emergency conditions that might be imposed, I'm going to try to
shoot more pictures of the storm's impact tomorrow and the next day.
Sure, it’s a cliché.
It’s also true, at
least often enough.
Here’s a picture of
the Atlantic Ocean just off the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk at Rehoboth Avenue,
taken this morning a few hours before high tide:
This evening we took
another look. The ocean’s still relatively calm, but the shopkeepers aren’t
taking any chances. Several beachfront businesses are already boarded up
against the impending storm. The city also removed the dozens of white
benches that normally edge the Boardwalk, as well as trash cans and other
potential projectiles.
It’s
finger-crossing time.
We went into Rehoboth
Beach for dinner the other night. At that point in the evening it was close
to high tide on the ocean. We took a short walk up to the Boardwalk for a
look both before and after our meal, and were a bit stunned to see all the
beach erosion that had occurred in just a few days. There was a sharp
dropoff about 20 yards from the Boardwalk, and the water ran under the
boards at many locations.
The recent Atlantic storms that
passed by here brought some heavy surf and rain, but nothing like the full
fury of a hurricane. However, the beach sand at Rehoboth was already in
relatively short supply, after last winter’s harsh treatment and a
slower-than-usual recovery this spring.
Last night brought another strong
storm, and we went up to the Boardwalk again. This time the rain literally
stung our faces, and there was little to see but 8- to 10-foot high surf and
whitecaps in the darkness. It was closer to low tide, but the water was
still coming close to covering the entire beach, what there was of it.
Today’s weather news suggested
that Delaware might be
in the path of the next hurricane.
(Link via Drudgereport).
Even if it doesn’t take a direct
hit, however, Rehoboth Beach is already in fairly bad shape for a glancing
blow.
The Corps of Engineers is to
oversee another
beach replenishment project
for Rehoboth, to begin next spring.
In the meantime, however, the
resort community needs to hit an unusual trifecta over the next six months—a
mild winter, no fall hurricanes, and no beach-gouging n’oreasters.
The only problem is that the odds
of hitting any trifecta are pretty steep, and this one’s no different.
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Contact Information:
Fritz Schranck
P.O. Box 88
Nassau, DE 19969
USA
fschranck-at-
sneakingsuspicions.com
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Table of Essays
2002
Official small print disclaimer: This is, after all, a personal web site. Any
opinions or comments I express here are my own, and don't necessarily reflect the official
position of my work as a government attorney or any of my clients. That fact may become
obvious later on, but it needs to be said here anyway.
© Frederick H. Schranck 2002-2003
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