Friday, September 03, 2010

Hurricane Earl Update

This is Amy Reporting my father's observations. We are in Carrboro making a vacation of the evacuation order.

As of 8am today, it appears all is well on Ocracoke. There will be some clean up of course, but a quick glance out around the harbor indicates that there was not widespread damage. The power has been out since 4am with winds that felt like they were about 60-65mph on Howard Street. A stroll out to the harbor this morning verified that Howard Street was more protected, because the winds there were still quite blustery and quickly flipped the umbrella inside out. The tide did come up, however Howard Street houses appear to have all stayed high and dry.

My father said he actually slept through most of the night, waking only when the house was really shaking and rattling. He has been up since early morning just checking on things in the area around the house. So far he's not been out to the beach to see how the dunes held up. Most cars are still staying parked on higher ground for the time being.

14 comments:

  1. Great! Thanks for the update. I was up until 2:30 AM watching the Weather Channel to stay up on what I could. Thanks again.

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  2. Thanks for the update Amy! We've been thinking about you all and the island all night (since the baby has been keeping us up all night lately). Good to hear that Howard St held up pretty well.
    Carter

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  3. Amy - Thanks for the update! Come see US before you head back to the island!!!

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  4. Anonymous9:13 AM

    In looking at the latest Weather Channel update-it looks like winds blowing off coast and over the sound to reach Ocracoke pretty strong until midday. Wonder if soundside is getting a big surge as well as overwash on Highway 12? Hope this is over for you all soon. Thank you Amy for keeping us in the loop-didn't realize electricity is out

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  5. Anonymous9:24 AM

    Hooray! Glad to hear the good news.

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  6. So grateful to know you folks are okay!!! Could you let us know how things are on North Pond and Oyster Creek? Some of my favorite houses are in these areas, particularly on the water! Thanks so much.

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  7. Anonymous10:09 AM

    In looking at the radar am wondering if a front that passed thru the midwest this week is effecting the storm. It looks like really intense rain inland rotating in from NE. I'm writing from Illinois where temp's have dropped about 20 degrees (high to low)over the past 48 hrs with 4+ inches of rain for us. Wondering if that cold front hitting the warm air mixing in off the coast is contributing to both wind and rain. On the good side, Ocracoke looks to be on the tail (southern end) of the big storm. TGIF eh?

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  8. Anonymous10:20 AM

    Thanks for the update Amy! Did your dad mention how high the water was on the street?

    Elizabeth & John Rinaldi

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  9. Thanks for the update, Amy. We have been thinking about you. We hope our island does as well as Ocracoke.

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  10. Thanks for the update Amy. So glad that OBX was somewhat spared. I realize there will be a lot of damage to clean up but not near what was expected. Looks like all those prayers worked! Stay safe Phillip and all OBX'ers!
    Regards,
    Canadian Janie

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  11. I'm very thankful that everyone is fine!

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  12. Anonymous11:38 AM

    Great update, Amy! Sounds like Ocracoke has been blessed through Earl. Maybe he was a "good ole boy" after all! :)

    How is Lachlan's cold?

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  13. Anonymous12:44 PM

    Webcams back up as of 12:40 p.m. Friday, though the time stamp on the Silver Lake Harbor cam indicates 3:30 p.m., Thursday, 9/2. Could Earl have been strong enough to blow Ocracoke back in time? Airport cam shows a comparatively placid ocean, minimal ponding around the runway, wind blowing in nearly the polar opposite direction compared to yesterday, and most important, blue sky. Good to see.

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  14. Anonymous1:48 PM

    Lachlan's cold seems just be affecting his voice (he's coughing and hoarse), but that hasn't stopped him from talking or running around. We are having a lovely vacation with no television to scare us about the effects of Earl. My calm father has been keeping us from worrying too much.
    Amy

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