No Name Hurricane Late November OBX - - - some pics - The Hull Truth

auguste · 12-11-2006, 05:45 PM

The pics that follow we taken the morning after (22nd) our NO_NAME hurricane on the 21st of November

Some of you are aware that a major Nor-Easter hit the OBX last month . . . we were the focus of the Weather Channel for a few hours

The winds were averaging 80 mph for most of the night . . . this was Cecile's first major storm of this type . . . the winds shook the house big-time and the half filled glass on the kitchen table had mini waves as the house shook . . . yes I know that many of you suffered far worse last year than the storm we experienced

For a two hour period it seemed that the wind would blow off the house . . . we are right on the beach and each wave pounding on the beach shook the cottage . . . damage was felt along the beach with the dunes 'busted' and water all over the place . . . we did not get the high water often accompanied by high winds . . . roads were closed to Cape Hatteras as sand up to 3 ft thick covered the roads

We heard that the weather station at the Manteo airport, 8 or so miles from the house we rented, reported maximum wind gusts of 129 mph

My question . . . are localized no-name hurricanes a common occurrence?

I hid the truck behind the small cottage so that it would not get sand blasted by the wind coming in from offshore . . . we stayed in the house in the back ground . . . you can see where the water flowed after it broke through the dunes. The pics show around our place which was lightly hit . . . 15 miles north some homes got a ;lot of damage

I understand that there was not more damage because the 100 mph winds were not sustained over longer periods of time

kmac · 12-11-2006, 06:06 PM

Nor easters are completely different than a hurricane in the way they form. They are common in the fall and winter months in that area and can be damaging. Some like the one you experienced can be as strong as a minor hurricane or tropical storm. These storms to me are really more dangerous because you can't see them coming. For all the destruction that a hurricane can bring the best thing about them is that you can see them coming and leave. Alot of research is going into trying to beter predict these storms.

Brancher · 12-11-2006, 06:49 PM

We get 'em pretty steadily here in OBX - I live on the Currituck Sound and from, say, mid November thru March or April, we get pretty frequent NE winds, building sometimes to heavy weather. I've seen several storms over the past 3 years or so that register over 80 mph, at least momentarily.

Funny, the nor'easters do a lot of damage, but the hurricanes get all the attention ..... sexier, I guess

Just part of the idyllic lifestyle....

kerno · 12-12-2006, 02:16 AM

I don't care what you call it, but when the water gets that close to the house, I'd say it had a sphincter factor of about 9.

iron banks · 12-12-2006, 09:26 AM

N easters are bad in that part of the world. I don't believe they spin twisters off like hurricanes and the low pressure in not a centralized with a huge tidal surge. The extreme low of a hurricane is what brings the huge tidal surge. Certainly not trying to down play the Big East storms. I was in Vermont a couple of years ago for a N easter blizzard and it was quite impressive. Still, no Katirna

HeadHunt · 12-12-2006, 09:44 AM

I remember reading that they condemned 20 or so homes after that storm.

Alan

cobraarvey · 12-12-2006, 10:15 AM

The most destructive storm to hit the New Jersey coast in the last 50 years was a "no named" noreaster that battered the seaside towns for 3 days in March of 1962. I was just a kid, but remember going to Wildwood N.J. with my grandparents days after the storm to check on our summer home and seeing houses in the middle of the street, sand everywhere, and only pilings left where homes and businesses once stood. Afishinado's town of Strathmere N.J. was practically wiped off the map from what I have heard and read in documented accounts.

dingbat · 12-12-2006, 10:32 AM

Quote:

iron banks - 12/12/2006 8:26 AM

I don't believe they spin twisters off like hurricanes and the low pressure in not a centralized with a huge tidal surge. The extreme low of a hurricane is what brings the huge tidal surge. (

Look familar? This a N'easter from Feb of this year

They are no Katrina but tides 5-6' above normal and it blowing 30-50 mph for days at a time do a lot more damage to the east coast than the Hurricanes do. Especially when your at best only 3' above sea level to begin with.

Graystone · 12-12-2006, 12:40 PM

I’ve lived here (OBX) for less than three years and have not been through a hurricane yet. From what I understand hurricanes pass through much faster than nor’easters which can stall and pound the area for hours/days. I have been through a few nor’easters here with the Nov 06 one being the worst as far as wind driven flooding from the sound along Colington road. Maybe ½ mile total of road flooded with I’m guessing the deepest spot 2 feet from the looks of the water debris line along the road.

I think the final count of condemned oceanfront homes in Nags Heads was 50+- from this storm.

redneck7 · 12-12-2006, 12:51 PM

South Nags Head cottages are hilarious in a twisted kind of way. I lived in KDH this summer and my boss had 2 rental properties down in SNH, one of which you could surf-cast from the deck upstairs. That's funny to me. He didn't find it as funny, but he did still say that it's hilarious to watch the folks that come to the beach for the first time ever and rent his cottage think that you're supposed to be able to fish from the balcony since his cottage is their first experience.

kev-n-tim · 12-12-2006, 01:02 PM

It is too bad that the storms cause so much destruction. the site of an angry ocean is assume to watch.

dave-j · 12-12-2006, 01:16 PM

Nor'easters can be much more damaging in that they can stay for days.

Not trying to be a jerk, but your cottage is on a barrier island in one of the more stormy parts of the east coast. I know it's beautiful there, but it was not meant to build on.

lbud · 12-12-2006, 01:19 PM

Gus. That ain`t no damn truck.

iron banks · 12-12-2006, 02:12 PM

Quote:

dingbat - 12/12/2006 9:32 AM

Quote:

iron banks - 12/12/2006 8:26 AM

I don't believe they spin twisters off like hurricanes and the low pressure in not a centralized with a huge tidal surge. The extreme low of a hurricane is what brings the huge tidal surge. (

Look familar? This a N'easter from Feb of this year

They are no Katrina but tides 5-6' above normal and it blowing 30-50 mph for days at a time do a lot more damage to the east coast than the Hurricanes do. Especially when your at best only 3' above sea level to begin with.

Not to start a pizzing contest of which is worse but does the central pressure get as low as a hurircanes

The extreme low pressure causes more of a tidal surge than the wind.

Keyskid · 12-12-2006, 03:33 PM

Auguste,

I was visiting family in Kitty Hawk that entire week and didn't know the winds had gotten that high. I figured maybe 70 to 75.

Having spent many, many years on the Outer Banks, I can tell you that a Nor Easter generally blows an odd number of days 1-3 or 5. Winds can and oftern do exceed hurricane strength and because it is constant and almost stationary, the eroision effects can be devistating. It's just something you need to get used to.

ReelWork · 12-12-2006, 03:39 PM

Gus, as I told you on the phone, my office building has been flooded TWICE this year!

It's no specific condition like wind, tides, rain or anything else that directly causes the damage. It's the culmination of all of these conditions shaping up at the same time, thus causing the most damage. It's amazing to me, It's been as much as 3 feet deep where I always park my truck!