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 The
dynamic landscape of the Outer Banks is
utterly amazing. Tiny grains of sand, uncountable, individually insignificant,
yet all together they combine to create the fascinating landscape of the
Outer
Banks. Even as tiny as they are, each grain of sand is thousands of times
larger than the molecules of air and water which move and shape this landscape
every second of every day. These molecules are so tiny they cannot be seen
under a microscope, yet they push the sand about in a restless frenzy, and
have done so for hundreds of thousands of years. And still these Outer Banks
remain.
| This site uses
GPS coordinates where applicable, displayed in red in the decimal
degrees format (hddd.ddddd°). As
coordinates are collected, they will be retrofitted to existing information,
and incorporated into future information. (More
info and conversions) |
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This is a continual and natural process. Wind and currents
keep the sand moving, slowly washing away from one area, only to be piled
up in another area, changing the contours of the shoreline. This process
also changes the depth of the water, both in the ocean and the sounds. The
channels which connect the sounds to the ocean, allowing water and sea
life, and boats, to move between the ocean and shallow protected sounds, are
called "inlets". These inlets also constantly change shape and depth.
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| Hurricane Isabel slams
the North Carolina coast in this enhanced infra-red GEOS-12 satellite image
from NOAA. |
When nature gathers
its humbling might into monsterous storms and punishes these shores with a
vengeance that makes man flee in
fear, the sand gives way under the onslaught. Like a Willow in the wind, this flexibility allows the Outer Banks to hold
its own against the oceans unrelenting fist.
Hurricanes, tropical storms and "nor'easters" can drastically
accelerate this sand movement. The high water can eat away at the protective
beach dunes,
or wash them completely away, or rapidly fill an
existing inlet with sand. Dramatic changes such as these
that would normally take years, decades or even centuries
to happen, can occur in only a matter of hours in one of these storms.
And sometimes, usually only once in a lifetime, a storm will even slice a new inlet across the barrier
islands just as quickly.
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This USGS aerial photo was taken just
3 days after Isabel created the new inlet. |
Inlets Come And Go:
The Case of Isabel Inlet-
Hurricane Isabel reached the status of a category
5 monster, as bad as they
come, but weakened to a category 2 by the time it pounded the Outer Banks
in the middle of September of 2003. Even as a category 2, its
rain
and
hail
and wind
caused
havoc far
into
the piedmont
of North Carolina as it cut northwest across
the northeastern end of the state. Power outages persisted for days,
even so far from the center of Isabel's destruction
as
Alamance
and
Guilford
counties,
and
points
west. The Outer Banks from Carova and points inland,
all the way southward to
Cape
Lookout, suffered extensive damage. On September 18th, within a matter of
hours, a new inlet was cut across Hatteras Island, severing the southern
end of
the
island.
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| This
telephoto image by the author shows a closeup of the building that washed into the sound. |
 The oblique
aerial photo from the USGS (above right)
and this overhead
aerial photo from NOAA at left show two bird's-eye
views of the newly created
inlet, located between the villages of Frisco and Hatteras. (The location
can be found on the Coastal
Guide Map.) Dunes, power lines, utility pipes and a section of NC
Hwy. 12 were completely swept away here.
Oceanfront buildings were demolished or carried away by the high water. One
building can be seen where it came to rest in the
sound, visible in the USGS photo as
a small white rectangle to the right of the label "Sound".
This detail section from
the USGS aerial photo farther above is labeled to provide visual orientation with the
other photos below. |
Compare this ground-level
photo (looking southward from the Frisco side of the inlet) with the detail
photo above. The "foreshortening" affect
of the telephoto lens makes the buildings look much closer to the inlet than
they
really are.
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The new inlet was dubbed "Isabel Inlet".
Since the ferry dock is located at the south end of Hatteras village, it could
not
be reached. Road damage, bridge damage and building debri in the village
added to the problem. Even the Ocracoke end of the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry
crossing was closed down because Hwy. 12 was damaged so badly the ferry docks
there could not be reached from Ocracoke village. Though Ocracoke village
could still receive supplies by regular ferry from Cedar Island and Swan
Quarter, only a small passenger shuttle ferry was available for Hatteras village,
and it was limited to residents and emergency personnel.
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| Old and young alike walked the mile from Frisco Pier to the new inlet to see what Isabel had done. |
Non-residents were not allowed
onto the Outer Banks for two weeks after Isabel because much of Highway 12
was covered in a deep layer of sand and the pavement was damaged or washed
out in many places. Much storm debri had to be removed as well. But once visitors
were again allowed access, many came to see this natural wonder, the new inlet,
which had sliced off the southern end of Hatteras Island. Vehicles could only
reach as far south as the Frisco pier on the south side of Frisco. From there
it was a mile walk down Hwy. 12 to reach the inlet. |
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| The author at Isabel Inlet. |
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| Wide
angle view of Isabel Inlet from ground level. |
 Standing
at the edge
of Isabel Inlet on
the centerline of a shattered and jumbled Hwy. 12 was an eye-opening experience.
Crumbled asphalt lead right into the ocean where
the highway
had been only
days before.
Looking
across to Hatteras Village, the two
small "islands" remaining in the middle of the inlet were covered with
crumbled asphalt, evidence that the highway had previously crossed there.
At right another photo plainly shows a turquoise pipe and a large black "spiral" pipe
which carried utilities, now ripped
apart and uncovered by the storm.
Even though the power poles had already been replaced
by the time Hatteras Island was opened again to visitors, services to the
isolated and devastated Hatteras
village still were not restored. There was too much damage to the infrastructure
and buildings to allow power back on (more about the structural damage
in Hatteras Village is covered ahead on page 2).
The inlet itself was
closed in November of 2003 by filling it with dredged sand, and the missing
section of Highway 12 was replaced. Highway 12 and Hatteras Village finally opened to general public
access on November 22, and the normal ferry schedule resumed between Ocracoke
and Hatteras at noon on that same day.
|
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| Another view of Isabel Inlet. |
The Isabel Breach-
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| The
breach between Hatteras village and Hatteras Inlet is shown in this aerial
photo from NOAA. |
The dramatic creation of
Isabel Inlet north of Hatteras village got all the "press", but Hurricane Isabel nearly created a second
inlet on the south side of Hatteras village as well. This second location
received little mention in the news. It is, however, a perfect example of
what is called a "breach". This happens when a storm creates a wash across
the barrier island that is only deep enough for high tide or wave surges
to wash across, but too shallow for a constant flow of water.
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| The
breach, after it was filled with dredged sand, viewed from the sound
side on the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry. |
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| This telephoto version of the above photo shows waves are still visible over the sand-filled breach. |
The
NOAA aerial photo above clearly shows the
breach. Sand and vegetation on the sound side of the island is washed
away creating a notch on the sound side which did not fully cut across to
the ocean. The ocean side of the breach is dark and wet where waves break
across it. Left to nature, such a breach may fill in naturally, or instead
may continue to erode away until it too becomes a small inlet.
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| Isabel
Breach after it was filled in, viewed from the beach looking toward the
sound. (N 35.20028 W 075.71608) |
Unlike Isabel Inlet, this breach had little impact
on residents or visitors, since it was situated south of Hatteras village,
where there are no roads or buildings. The only access to this area is by
4WD along the ocean beach (Ramp #55), which is the path used to reach the
extreme southern tip of the island at Hatteras Inlet where fishing is a popular
actitity.
An inlet here would only cut off 4WD access to the area for fishing. Still,
authorities chose to fill the breach with dredge sand. The wide angle and
telephoto images at right, taken from the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry, show the
area of the breach from the sound side after
it was filled in. In the telephoto shot
waves
can clearly be seen across the sand on the ocean side. From this it
becomes obvious the land is not very high here. The absence of high beach
dunes, which would normally block such a view, leaves the area vulnerable
to future storms.
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The Case of New Inlet,
Pea Island-
The Pier in the Marsh
 Smack
in the middle of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, at mile marker 34 (GPS
coordinates N 35.67510 W 075.48084) on Hwy. NC 12 is a strange
sight. What looks to be a very long pier sits
in the shallow marsh. It is a curiosity for certain, as there would seem
to be no logical reason for a great long pier to be there.
This old "pier" is in actuality an old bridge. This
area of Pea Island is still known as "New
Inlet", and it clearly exemplifies the dynamic nature of the Outer Banks.
This was one of those inlets that came and went, more than once. Though the
name "New Inlet" has often been applied to other inlets which
appeared along these barrier islands, this particular "New Inlet" appeared
north of Chicamacomico (Rodanthe area) sometime in the 1730's. It was always
fairly unstable, partially
filling,
then widening again in cycles through
the decades. Then, close to 200 years later, in 1922, it closed completely.
But just eleven years later, in the fall of 1933, hurricanes
again opened the inlet, cutting two channels across the very center
of what is now Pea Island National Wildlife
Refuge. Though there was no Hwy. 12 or any other actual road along these islands south of Oregon Inlet prior to the end of World War II, this was the era when the "motor car" was beginning to make itself useful as a means of transportation via the beaches. But passage along the beachfront, or elsewhere on the islands for that matter, still required a means to cross the inlets. These newly cut channels were narrow and lent themselves to being bridged, unlike the wider inlets, which made a ferry more economically practical than bridge building. So two wooden bridges were constructed across
the inlet channels, only to see the inlet close once again soon after the
bridges
were
put into
operation.
Today the remnants of these old wooden bridges attest
to the inlet's existance, looking curiously out of place across the marsh
grasses of Pea Island. One
of these
bridges is still recognizable, shown in the telephoto
view at right above. The other bridge is now marked only by rows
of pilings, which can be noted in the aerial photos below.
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| This composite detail better shows the bridge remains. |
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| Two aerial
photos from NOAA were composited to created this image of the Pea
Island "New Inlet" area. |
The
composited
aerial
photo from NOAA at left, and a close-up of
the same composite at right, clearly show the former path of the road as
it swung away from the beach
and crossed the two bridges, then swung back toward the beach again. The south
bridge (left in the photos) is now only a line of pilings, but enough of the north
bridge (right in the photos) remains that it is easily visible from Hwy. 12.
Next, see what can happen to beach dunes, even if they're two stories high,
and marvel at an ancient forest in the surf. |
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Related Links -
Dynamic Landscape-
Page Two
This site uses
GPS coordinates where applicable, displayed in red in the decimal
degrees format (hddd.ddddd°).
(More
info and conversions) |
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How to find beach access ramps (map)
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| Visit
these other web sites by Fred Hurteau |
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