THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508200046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Outer Banks beaches suffered only minor erosion damage from Hurricane Felix, according to Division of Coastal Management estimates.
And in some areas the storm helped the beaches, according to Dare County spokesman Charles Hartig.
``Some places wound up with more sand than they had before the storm,'' Hartig said.
Total damage to county buildings was an estimated $57,000, he said.
Thanks to recent changes in coastal management regulations, beachfront property owners will probably be able to protect some of their property faster than ever before.
As of Friday, Division of Coastal Management permit officers in Dare County had estimated that 20 to 30 homes suffered only minor damage, with most of the storm's effects falling on septic systems.
In some areas of Dare County, the waves had removed sand from around beachfront septic tanks, leaving them partially exposed.
``It does not seem to be severe,'' said Richard Watts, acting district manager for the Division of Coastal Management's regional office in Elizabeth City. ``We're getting reports of minimal structural damage and some dune erosion. Therefore, there will be some interest in bulldozing.''
The storm may have accelerated erosion along some Currituck County beaches but inflicted minimal property damage, according to local division permit officers.
And on Hatteras Island, the storm caused only minor damage to sand dunes that protect N.C. Route 12.
Coastal management officials report that only about 0.7 miles of sand dunes were harmed in Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, and some minor dune damage was reported north of Rodanthe.
Watts said the division will have better information on how much, if any, beach erosion was caused by Hurricane Felix after division officials survey the area from the air this week.
But one coastal expert said that most of the erosion reported from Hurricane Felix probably occurred just offshore.
``This is a major erosion event, but it's not going to be very spectacular,'' said professor Orrin Pilkey, head of Duke University's program for the study of developed shorelines, who has been keeping track of North Carolina's coast for more than 25 years.
``It will be removing a lot of sand that you won't even see. It will steepen the beach and move a lot of sand offshore.''
The erosion leaves the shoreline vulnerable going into what is typically the most active part of the hurricane season.
The barrier islands also are vulnerable in the winter, when they get repeated hits from northeasters, according to Pilkey.
One focus of erosion concern had been the 125-year-old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The lighthouse, which is the nation's tallest at 208 feet, is perched 80 feet from the surf, making it vulnerable to damage from wind and water.
Some sand had washed away from around the sandbags protecting the beach in front of the lighthouse and from the metal groin protecting the structure. But a spokesman for the National Park Service said Friday that the erosion was minimal.
``The impact from this storm was not much more than a minor winter northeaster,'' Bob Woody, a park service public information officer, said. ``There is nothing of consequence.''
Researchers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which runs a beach research station near Duck, said Friday that it's too early to tell how much beach erosion Hurricane Felix caused to the northern Dare County beaches.
So far, heavy surf has prevented researchers from probing nearshore waters for erosion effects, but they hope to have information by Monday.
Thanks to changes by the state Coastal Resources Commission earlier this year, beachfront property owners can choose to install sandbags to protect septic tanks that may have been endangered by the storm, although the new rules also limit the use of these sandbags. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Spectators survey the erosion Hurricane Felix caused to the beach at
Kitty Hawk. The experts call the damage minimal.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FELIX by CNB