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Hurricane Dennis lingered off the N.C. coast for almost a week, battering Davis Island with high seas, winds that gusted to better than 90 miles an hour and the worst sound-side flooding in more than 60 years.
By the time the Dennis made landfall Saturday, Sept. 4, just south of Cedar Island, Cape Lookout National
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Seashore was essentially out of commission. Persistent northeast winds pushed water from Pamlico Sound into Core Sound. The high water wrecked both docks used by Alger Willis Fishing Camps. The winds buckled Cabin 20A-B.
But no other major structural damage was reported, and Jack Dunaway, our man on the spot, reported that none of campers parked in the lot at the Great Island Camp appeared to be damaged.
Karren Brown, the superintendent at Cape Lookout, said it could be the middle of September before the docks are repaired. Willis was closed for the busy Labor Day weekend. DIFF Club members who are planning a trip to the island in September should, of course, call Willis before departing. As of early September, the club's fishing tournament, set for Sept. 30-Oct. 2, was still on schedule.
Dennis packed 100-mile-an-hour winds when it brushed past Cape Lookout on Aug. 30. It then stalled for rest of the week about 100 miles east of Cape Hatteras. Though its winds diminished to under hurricane strength ¾ 72 mph ¾ Dennis behaved like a vicious nor'easter. Northeast winds that gusted to 50 mph caused some of the worst flooding along Down East Carteret County since a 1933 storm.
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The high water flooded the keepers house at the lighthouse and turned the back road into a deep canal. The constant winds destroyed what was left of many of the island's sand dunes.
Neighboring Portsmouth Island, which also is part of Cape Lookout National Seashore, fared worst than Davis. The storm cut a new inlet just north of the current Drum Inlet, and damaged the dock at the Long Point camp. High water flooded campers parked at the camp.
To keep up with damage assessments on Davis, check Jack's web page ¾
www.drumwagon.com.
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