North Florida Writer
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Life Around Us
  • Contact
  • MY BOOK PAGE

Why Did Mother Nature Create the "Barrier Island?"

9/7/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
This classic picture of the Outer Banks was taken on Apollo 9. I have it on my study wall.
The barrier islands known as the Outer Banks of North Carolina shown above were savaged by Hurricane Dorian Friday morning. While only a Category One hurricane, the storm created a major storm surge on both Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands as the western eyewall slowly moved across the fragile sand islands.  The open eye came ashore right over Buxton and the famed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and reporters looked amazed as the storm winds suddenly stopped and the air became still. Some wondered if the storm was over, others said no, when the winds changed the water would gradually come across from the west and go back out the inlets. Both were wrong. Nature had other ideas and as she always does, she carried forth with her plan with dire consequences to those in her way.

The beautiful picture above which was taken by Apollo 9, if looked at closely and with an open eye, tells us what would and did happen.  When the counter-clockwise spinning storm crosses the shore and those underneath pass into the eye, the winds eerily stop, but as the spinning storm spins onward, when the eyewall on the other side of the storm arrives, the winds start anew from the opposite direction and usually with more force than the initial assault.  This change of wind direction reverses the flow of the water.  The huge volume of water pushed into the sounds and rivers suddenly receives those brutal outward bound winds and builds into wave after wave headed for the pristine barrier islands with high energy.  In a matter of an hour or so, a sand flat that was created on the eastern shore of the sound quickly fills with water again and the volume is so great and moving so fast that it finds its course back toward the sea by the shortest route possible, over what was previously dry ground.  The heavy rain even adds to the volume as homes, businesses and even schools are soon flooded. It has happened in times of bad storms for many centuries and it isn't about to change, for the problem was created not by the storm but by the actions of man in not paying attention.

Think about it a little more deeply. The water previously entered into the sound, driven by winds from the sea, that took place over the last few days that the storm was moving toward that fragile shore. When it tried to send some of the volume where man-made barriers successfully contained it, many of those barriers were heavily damaged by the wrath of the tide as well and in some cases overrun, but one way or the other, the massive amounts of water that made it into the sound moved westward, there to wait for the chance to return from whence it came. When that wind suddenly changed direction, it returned with a vengeance for all of the residents to see and they paid the price.  The sea is like that.  It will do what it is going to do and until we understand that simple message it will ultimately only get worse as we continue to overbuild on fragile sand bars. Perhaps the force of nature is the only thing that will change that.

Maybe it's as simple as man just understanding what the nature of a barrier island is all about. A barrier island is a fragile isle designed to give some protection to the mainland behind it.  If it ultimately disappears, small places like Stumpy Point, Manns Harbor and even greater sized towns will find themselves at the mercy of the open ocean. Roanoke Island, also considered part of the Outer Banks, will also assume a much more direct threat and the beaches will be gone forever.  Barrier islands have their purpose and we need to understand them, for when a much greater storm than Dorian hits and it someday will, the coast will be changed forever.

The old days of common sense are now over, replaced by a human arrogance that thinks it can conquer and while both Hatteras Island and Ocracoke will become even more impacted by the continued growth. Even the northern Banks of Bodie Island won't escape the problems and in many ways they will be even more severe, particularly as a public health issue. The modern beach dunes created by the Corps of Engineers have sealed the interior off.  What was a natural brush covered sandy area for absorbing and percolating the water that couldn't escape back to the sea on its own is now fully built up.  The result becomes a heavy rain and storm event becomes a toxic stew that must be pumped back into the ocean on the very beach where visitors want to frolic and play. There is no other means of removing it since infrastructure is woefully inadequate for the population now served. Meanwhile,  Even there  the soundside will continue to suffer from flooding since the water once again takes its most direct course seeking out the sea. Building there continues on steroids and ultimately, the entirety of the Outer Banks will suffer one of two fates. Which one happens first will likely bring the area's major demise as a desirable place to be. It will either become so overcrowded that it will lose all semblance to being a paradise on the sea or the "Big One" will solve the problem with the power of Mother Nature.

A lady who is older like me and is a Facebook friend with much life experience in earlier times like me on the Outer Banks said it best and I will quote her. although the words might not be exact but the meaning remains the same:

"In earlier times on the Outer Banks, coastal residents built summer homes on huge pilings, not stilts, and they were spaced far apart to allow the ebb and flow of the sea and the  blowing winds to rebuild the natural dunes with the sand they return to the beach."

Will mankind  learn and change the way things are done?  If we use past experience, no they won't and the land of much history will gasp her final breath as they waves finally send her to rest right back where she started thousands of years ago in the sea.
1 Comment
Patty Hinkle
9/10/2019 08:40:47 pm

Beautifully written, as well as an absolute heartbreak. Humans will not listen as long as there is a dollar to be made. Eventually, Mother Earth will reclaim what is rightfully hers.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    ABOUT ME

    Hi, I'm James, a writer who studies nature,  animals and all things created by God. I also write from time to time about what I think God expects of us.  I would love to hear your thoughts on these subjects. I hope you enjoy my comments.

    Archive

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    America
    American Sports
    Animals
    Armed Forces Day
    Conservatism
    Doctorpatient0717615167
    Elections-2016
    Florida
    Florida-politics
    Freedom
    Freedom-of-speech
    Geese
    God
    Gods Glory0546cd6883
    Health Care
    Honor
    Integrity
    Jesus Christ
    Koch-brothers
    Leisure-time
    Love
    Military
    Nature
    Primaries
    Proverbs
    Safety
    Savior
    The Future
    Top-political-donors-list
    Tyrannical-government

    RSS Feed

Thanks for contacting northfloridawriter.com.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Arian Zwegers, trvlto, thomas pix, taberandrew, Justin A. Wilcox, Glyn Lowe Photoworks, ckay, phalinn, curtis palmer, bnpositive, oddsock, HooLengSiong, jespahjoy, illustir, ljlphotography, Out at Bob's, The Labour Party, ljlphotography, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, eli.pousson, JasonParis, Fibonacci Blue, wht_wolf9653, bsabarnowl, ` TheDreamSky, Ken_Hoffman, dsearls, NCinDC, James Byrum, DonkeyHotey, Waiting For The Word, cliff1066™, possan, dpape, David Holt London, akeg, Waiting For The Word, Glyn Lowe Photoworks, MilitaryHealth, yukali, infomatique, goforchris, cliff1066™, Wootang01, dctim1, Donald Lee Pardue, LizMarie_AK, campdarby, CedarBendDrive, bill85704, faeparsons, TMAB2003, cliff1066™, Rennett Stowe, KOMUnews, cliff1066™, chris.huggins, USDAgov, mat_walker, gruntzooki, DonkeyHotey, ljlphotography, Elvert Barnes, Paulsasleepwalker, facebook.com/snapshotsofthepast, foto3116, Miller_Center, digitonin, BostonCatholic, Watt_Dabney, jepoirrier, EpicFireworks, derekskey, cletch, DonkeyHotey, KOMUnews, DonkeyHotey, ravensong75, Alan Cleaver, Francisco Diez, hermmermferm, cod_gabriel, Marxchivist, Fibonacci Blue, dbgg1979, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, David Barrie, rjs1322, Just Another Wretch, Keith Laverack, Waiting For The Word, whoohoo120, AFS-USA Intercultural Programs, Brett Jordan, yisris, Michael Hodge, Waiting For The Word, MilitaryHealth, doceggman, AlmazUK, taberandrew, cliff1066™, krossbow, shinya, The Jewish Agency for Israel, kudumomo, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, cliff1066™, johntrainor, emilio labrador, cliff1066™, EraPhernalia Vintage . . . (playin' hook-y ;o), **emmar**, Mrs. Gemstone, Andrea Westmoreland, Jeff Kern, Waiting For The Word, Abdulsalam Haykal, Donald Lee Pardue, roberthuffstutter, Dougtone, b1mbo, DonkeyHotey, paularps, kaatjevervoort, Simon Davison, BONGURI, Marion Doss, ex_magician, Bergfels, Brett Jordan, Tim Evanson, Art4TheGlryOfGod, Jeff Kubina, sskennel, DonkeyHotey, VirtKitty, Rodrigo_Soldon, resistealeau, MilitaryHealth, edalisse, Mervi Eskelinen aka tasselflower, Kaz Andrew, nitram242, Andrew Aliferis, uitdragerij, Paul J Everett, Joe Shlabotnik, Jeffrey, Harry Thomas Photography, Tim Evanson, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Ron Cogswell, Nationalmuseet, escapedtowisconsin, Michael Cory, DonkeyHotey, timsamoff, mrbillt6, bnilsen, themonnie, valeehill, dichohecho, Waiting For The Word, technochick, cliff1066™, RTD Photography, Randy Wick, Enokson, Rising Damp, DonkeyHotey, Waiting For The Word, SteveNakatani, Fovea Centralis, Dru Bloomfield - At Home in Scottsdale, lisaclarke, Mulad, Roswell_UMC, Bengt Nyman, U.S. Embassy New Delhi, FreedomHouse2, SuperFantastic, Rory Finneren, Alaskan Dude, Larry1732, Mr. T in DC, ikewinski, Ivy Dawned, RLHyde, Waiting For The Word, heartajack, dyogi, dailymatador, David Paul Ohmer, Pleuntje, Leonard Bentley, midwestnerd, Donald Lee Pardue, DonkeyHotey, Oli-Oviyan, PatrikWalde, flamesworddragon, The U.S. Army, Zach Heller Photography, DonkeyHotey, EvinDC, Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections, Ronnie Macdonald, Gerry Dincher, The U.S. Army, Jeff Belmonte, DonkeyHotey, Texas Military Forces, jim.greenhill, Ben Sutherland, the Original Jeff Martin, Loz Flowers, CBP Photography, spbpda, OCVA, Hot Rod Homepage, brianholsclaw, dozodomo, quinn.anya, KOMUnews, wtstoffs, Leo Newball, Jr., lilli2de, dmott9, Justin A. Wilcox, sören2013, boboroshi, newagecrap, CoreBurn, simminch, ninahale, EvinDC, Mister Awesome, HeyRocker, beggs, Donald Lee Pardue