Hurricane Irene - Pre- and Post-Storm Photo Comparisons - Cape Lookout, NC to Oregon Inlet, NC
Before and after photo pairs show examples of coastal change resulting from Hurricane Irene.
Before And After Photos Show Coastal Change
The barrier island coast between Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras has a very different orientation than the coast between Cape Hatteras and Oregon Inlet; in fact, together, they form nearly a right angle. This difference in orientation contributed to differences in impact on each coast during the passage of Hurricane Irene. The more southerly facing reach from Lookout to Hatteras was impacted directly by the storm's strongest winds in the right-front quadrant. Model results (by Coastal Emergency Risk Assessment using ADCIRC) estimated that maximum storm surge along the ocean-facing side of the barrier islands from Cape Lookout to Cape Hatteras was roughly 2 m. Additionally, 7-m wave heights observed on the open coast contributed to both setup and runup. The resulting impacts to the coast included dune erosion, overwash, and potentially dune retreat, as indicated below in the before and after images. In contrast, as the counterclockwise circulation of the storm moved across the broad Pamlico Sound after landfall, the winds eventually blew from west to east creating a storm surge, in addition to waves and wave setup, on the sound-side of the barrier island between Cape Hatteras and Oregon Inlet. ADCIRC indicated that the soundside storm surge also reached roughly 2 m. The ocean-side surge levels were lower than the sound-side levels, and where the island was lower than the surge level, the surge may have flowed from sound to ocean potentially contributing to the formation of five breaches carved between Cape Hatteras and Oregon Inlet, several of which severed NC Highway 12.
Before and after photo pairs show examples of coastal change resulting from Hurricane Irene.
Before And After Photos Show Coastal Change
The barrier island coast between Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras has a very different orientation than the coast between Cape Hatteras and Oregon Inlet; in fact, together, they form nearly a right angle. This difference in orientation contributed to differences in impact on each coast during the passage of Hurricane Irene. The more southerly facing reach from Lookout to Hatteras was impacted directly by the storm's strongest winds in the right-front quadrant. Model results (by Coastal Emergency Risk Assessment using ADCIRC) estimated that maximum storm surge along the ocean-facing side of the barrier islands from Cape Lookout to Cape Hatteras was roughly 2 m. Additionally, 7-m wave heights observed on the open coast contributed to both setup and runup. The resulting impacts to the coast included dune erosion, overwash, and potentially dune retreat, as indicated below in the before and after images. In contrast, as the counterclockwise circulation of the storm moved across the broad Pamlico Sound after landfall, the winds eventually blew from west to east creating a storm surge, in addition to waves and wave setup, on the sound-side of the barrier island between Cape Hatteras and Oregon Inlet. ADCIRC indicated that the soundside storm surge also reached roughly 2 m. The ocean-side surge levels were lower than the sound-side levels, and where the island was lower than the surge level, the surge may have flowed from sound to ocean potentially contributing to the formation of five breaches carved between Cape Hatteras and Oregon Inlet, several of which severed NC Highway 12.