From: Tiderunner
Category: Fish Report
Date: 9/19/2003
Time: 7:19:11 PM
Isabel Leaves Behind Damaged Homes, New Inlet
Thousands In N.C., Virginia Remain Without Power
POSTED: 9:21 a.m. EDT September 19, 2003
UPDATED: 5:58 p.m. EDT September 19, 2003
HARLOWE, N.C. -- Hurricane Isabel appeared to be a study in contrasts: a large and messy storm that chose its victims carefully, slamming into North Carolinas most fragile areas, destroying property and leaving thousands with the prospect of having no power for weeks.
Hatteras Island, Friday. Sept 19:Isabels fury carved out a whole new inlet on Hatteras Island.
Images From Isabel
The water, sand, and wind wiped out several sections of Highway 12 on Hatteras Island. Isabel took that damage a step further by carving out a whole new inlet. The force of Hurricane Isabel split the island, cutting off all travel north of Hatteras Village. It left residents trapped because another unplanned waterway formed to the south.
ISABEL RECOVERY INFO/
PHOTOS
Images From Isabel: See & Send Photos
Information By County
POWER/UTILITIES
Dominion NC Power: (888) 667-3000
ElectriCities
N.C. Electric Cooperatives
Wake Electric: (800) 474-6300
Progress Energy: (800) 419-6356
Duke Power: (800) POWER-ON (769-3766)
Time Warner Cable: (866) 489-2669
ROAD CONDITIONS
N.C. SmartLink: Real-Time Road Conditions
Virginia DOT: (800) 367-ROAD
NC EMERGENCY HOTLINE
English & Spanish: (888) 835-9966
Deaf & Hard of Hearing: (877) 877-1765
N.C. Emergency Management FEMA | FEMA en Espaņol
INSURANCE/
CONSUMER
N.C. Dept. Of Insurance:
(919) 733-2031
(800) 546-5664
Insurance Co. Claims
N.C. Scam Hotline & Consumer Info:
(877) 5-NOSCAM
Spanish: (919) 716-0058
Outside NC:(919) 716-6000
N.C. Dept of Health & Human Service Tips (English & Spanish)
HEALTH & SAFETY
Boil Water Notice
Hurricane Survival Checklist
Power Out: Is Your Food Safe?
Most of the damage was in the northeast corner of the state and on the central coast, including tiny Harlowe in Carteret County, where homes were destroyed. About 400,000 houses and residences in North Carolina remained without power Friday.
Sept. 19: Sky 5 Surveys Damage From Isabel
Sept: 19: Kill Devil Hills Assessing Damage In Wake Of Isabel
Officials are telling people not to come to the Outer Banks until noon Saturday. Access is restricted because of too much damage and debris that is blocking many roadways.
Pockets of damage line the coastline near Kill Devil Hills. The beach road is sitting in pieces and some of the dunes are missing. In Nags Head, two major landmarks were wiped out. The Nags Head pier is standing in the water, but Isabel pulled apart its shop on land. Isabel also destroyed Jeanettes Pier.
In Elizabeth City, on the northern end of the coast, 95 percent of the community was without power.
Ive never been in anything like this in my life, in my whole life, said Edmond Brown, 79, of Elizabeth City. As old as I am, I thank God I lived through it all. Everything is tore up, but Im grateful Im still standing.
Buxton, Friday, Sept 19: Homes throughout Buxton remain flooded.
At least three people were killed in North Carolina, including a utility worker in Newport and two motorists in Franklin and Chowan counties. One of the dead was identified as Angelique Jones, 25, of Edenton, who was killed when a tree crushed her Jeep Cherokee on Thursday.
A storm-tossed tree fell into a natural gas substation in Hertford County, breaking a valve and causing a leak that continued through Friday morning, the county emergency management office said.
Brooks Stalnaker, 72, and his wife, Carole Frances, watched flood waters flatten their home in Harlowe on Thursday afternoon.
It kind of looks like they misplaced the bomb for Saddam and dropped it here, Brooks Stalnaker said Friday. We just got totaled.
The couple stayed with neighbors on higher ground, but saw the storm surge come toward their home.
Hatteras Island, Thursday. Sept 18: The sign says 300 yards to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
Jennifer Warren, Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative
The water was banging against the center pane (window panes) and I told my wife, It cant take much more of this, Brooks Stalnaker said. About 10 minutes later, she started crying and said, Oh my God, there it goes. We saw it go. It looked like it just collapsed within.
Officials in North Topsail beach said damage is minimal. Heavy winds from Hurricane Isabel ripped off siding and peeled away a few shingles, but most of the beachfront homes held up.
Most north Topsail Beach residents are busy Friday removing plywood from buildings and doors. It is the first time in years North Topsail Beach is not launching a massive cleanup after a major storm.
Harlowe, Friday. Sept 19:Many homes were destroyed in Harlowe in Carteret County and entire communities lost power.
Areas that are farther inland, including the Triangle, saw mostly downed trees and power lines, but one county got the worst of the storm. Officials say Halifax County was hit hard. At one point, two-thirds of the county lost power.
Some isolated flash flooding was reported near Roanoke Rapids. Halifax and Edgecombe counties are the farthest inland that are part of the federal disaster area.
Localized outages were as high as 95 percent to 100 percent all along the Outer Banks and in Elizabeth City, and utility companies said they had no idea when power would be restored.
This was a storm of historic proportions, said Dan Genest, a spokesman for Virginia-based Dominion Power, which serves counties in northeastern North Carolina and along the Outer Banks. While not a very powerful hurricane, it cut through all of Dominions service territory in North Carolina and Virginia, basically one end to another.
Renee Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said the state would begin a detailed assessment of the damage Tuesday. The state had no damage estimates Friday.
Hatteras Island, Friday. Sept 19:The high winds shredded Hatteras Village homes and businesses tossing around buildings like blocks.
The issues right now are public health and safety, she said.
In Bertie County in northeastern North Carolina, county manager Zee Lamb said only people with generators had power. Theyre telling us it will be as much as two weeks before its back on, he said. Were hoping thats a worst-case scenario.
Roanoke Rapids Mayor D.N. Beale estimated it will take weeks or months to clean up damaged property. In Edenton, a historic town along the Albemarle Sound, town council member Steve Biggs said every inch of town was affected by the storm. Theres no place where you can go that you dont find destruction.
This is the worst this town has ever seen.
In Wanchese, the pastor of Wanchese Assembly of God said the town is going through the hardest hit that Ive seen.
On nearby Roanoke Island, cleanup efforts started early. David Dalton, 42, pastor of Wanchese Assembly of God, worked in front of his brick house Friday morning while water 2-feet deep stood in his yard.
Everybodys self-sufficient around here, he said. He said he planned to help older parishioners clean up if I can get my hands on a saw.
Bob Cowden, 60, of Oriental, sorted through the soggy items he had tried to protect in his basement. The 4-1/2-foot sawhorses he stacked them on turned out to be about a foot too short.
I was telling my wife, We pay for this view, Cowden said as he looked out over Neuse River. Clean it up, put it in the trash and go again.
The eye of the storm swept over the coast near Core Banks about noon with 100 mph winds and a load of rain. It moved northwest toward Halifax County before moving into Virginia.
Bob Dorrman, a boat builder who lives in Harlowe, spent Friday morning cutting away vinyl siding ripped from the side of his house. He also tinkered with two cars in his driveway that wouldnt start after water submerged their engines.
And look at it today, he said on the clear, calm morning. Its like Gods apologizing. Well, too late, dude.
About 60 miles to the northwest, Kinston was among the cities hit hardest by Floyd four years ago. Flooded churches and businesses had to rebuild. Many residents sold their flood-prone homes in a government buyout.
The stretch of U.S. 70 running through Kinston had water so deep we had fish swimming across, said Lenoir County Sheriff W.E. Smith. We got lucky this time.
Princeville was another North Carolina town where many residents lost their homes to Floyd. One of them was Lossie Knight, who sat with her daughter, Angela Sherrod, Thursday night with her screen door open to let in the remnants of Isabels winds.
Most of the residents are opening their doors, looking out the windows to see whats happening, Sherrod said. Weve had a much