POST 496 - DAY 290 / 33: RODANTHE, OUTER BANKS, NORTH CAROLINA

Please say HELLO to Bonnie Brown Rowe.

Bonnie is Owner of VACATION TRADITIONS, who is taking care of Karen's Summer Home were SPIA and I are staying.

Bonnie is a Realtor Broker and can be reached at bonnie@vacationtraditions.com; or www.vacationtraditions.com.

Karen's home has a name: DEJA VU. We shall refer to DEJA VU in the future.

As I stepped out dressed for walking, it had already been raining for some time. A Low Pressure Area moved in during the night bringing Gale force winds - 45 mph and above - and a steady downpour of rain on an already saturated sandy ground. Instead of walking, I got out my shovel and tried to direct water flowing into DEJA VU driveway. In 30 minutes, SPIA was surrounded by standing water. My efforts went for naught...there was simply no place for the water to go.

So, my cleanup of yesterday will have to be done again when the rain stops. The Low Pressure Storm is forecast to intensify tonight and tomorrow (Saturday) and perhaps clear up on Sunday.

Realizing I could do nothing about new flooding, I put on my rain gear and hit the road (began walking).

This pile of trash is the same RV pictured in yesterday's blog...just a bit more torn to pieces by our current storm.

A mile or so South on SR 12 is a car-racing complex with a number of different tracks for various types of cars and racing...the entire complex is a shambles with no apparent effort as yet to clean it up.

Yesterday we explained how "trash" is deposited along SR 12, to be picked up by the County and disposed of... paid by FEMA. The above photograph shows a cleaned-up section where yesterday were piles of trash...seems to be working.

Further down the highway (SR 12), new piles of trash have appeared.

On my walk back to SPIA, a industrious fellow had recovered a stainless double sink from this pile and was loading it on his pickup truck...perhaps for the $$ it would bring as "scrap metal".

This Swimming Complex is also devastated and appears not to have been cleaned up since Hurricane IRENE passed by.

Another part of the Water Complex damaged by the surging water from Hurricane IRENE.

Nearby is an RV park with hundreds of parking spaces - not KOA. I checked in to arrange to have SPIA tanks dumped - cost $5.00 any day of the week 'til 5:00 pm - and was told that the water reached nine (9) feet deep at the park, completely ruining the offices, game rooms, two swimming pools (concrete walls failed), requiring total renovation before re-opening for business.

A few parking sites have been repaired and have received a half dozen or so RVs.

The above channel is the source of the high water in this part of RODANTHE.

I learned this morning that Hurricane IRENE did NOT come in from the Atlantic Ocean. She drove up the coast from the South, crossing BEHIND the Barrier Islands over the waters of PAMLICO SOUND. The mainland coast received the "Eye" of the Hurricane and also much devastation.

Storm waters therefore came from PAMLICO SOUND, not from the Ocean. The above channel is on PAMILCO SOUND and guided the storm waters into the center of RODANTHE.

Near DEJA VU (about 3 blocks North where we pictured the homes yesterday), HATTERAS ISLAND was cut in two by water coming from PAMLICO SOUND. A second breech occurred about 6 miles further North, also cutting the island - and SR 12 - allowing free flowing storm waters between the SOUND and the Atlantic Ocean.

The breech 6 miles North was NOT filled in, as was the breech near DEJA VU. Instead, a Bridge was built to span the breech, leaving the new channel of swiftly flowing water between the SOUND and the Atlantic Ocean. Newspapers and locals are concerned that the storm we are now having might cut away the sandy soil on the bridge approaches...

In the morning, I will walk to the new bridge and share with photos that which I find.

The channel near the RV park...this channel apparently already existed before IRENE.

RV Park walkway bridge. Much work has yet to be done before the RV park will be operational.

Looking toward the Atlantic Ocean from SR 12, there are numerous large homes. This entire area was under 4 - 9 feet of water during the passing of Hurricane IRENE...much of it yet to be cleaned up.

Another problem has turned up for SPIA...there is no available PROPANE in this part of HATTERAS ISLAND. Many propane sales outlet tanks simply vanished during IRENE. Others have been damaged. The RV park is working to put in a new system...not yet completed. The local Grocery Store has (had) a system, but it is not in service at this time.

Since I left my spare Propane Tank with SAM a couple weeks ago (when we removed SAM's platform, we also lost a place to store Propane and Gasoline), we must find a source of Propane. I expect to run out about the 12th...in 8 days.

Perhaps I can purchase a "filled" Propane Tank as a backup...

We shall see.