From CoastalReview.org Advocates say would-be homebuyers and current oceanfront property owners in North Carolina have long needed clearer rules and updated information as climate change increases the risks of damage and flooding. Two unrelated, but long-sought actions taken last week by the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission seek to clarify two persistent issues: septic systems […]
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Solutions are few for imperiled oceanfront homes, per virtual workshop meeting
March 10, 2023 | Local News | By: Catherine Kozak | From The: Coastal Review
It’s been more than a year since the first oceanfront house, standing on an eroded beach within Cape Hatteras National Seashore, collapsed into the ocean in the early morning on Feb. 9. Two more nearby houses fell in May. Each time, tons of construction debris — jagged, sharp, toxic, ugly — were carried for miles by […]
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Rodanthe sand project unlikely, but new study to begin
January 26, 2023 | Local News | By: Catherine Kozak | From The: Coastal Review
A new bridge has bypassed a dangerous and persistent ocean overwash problem on the roadway on the north end of Hatteras Island. Now residents of this tiny village are looking for beach nourishment to protect their homes from washing into the ocean. The reason that Rodanthe is at risk is the same reason that a […]
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Miss Katie dredge on track to work in Hatteras Inlet by February
January 13, 2023 | Fishing | By: Catherine Kozak
As mariners look ahead to the spring fishing tournament season, the Dare County Waterways Commission is hopeful that maintenance issues in Hatteras Inlet finally can be addressed in a timely manner. “We don’t want to wait until the last minute,” Commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter said at Monday’s meeting in Manteo. “We want it fixed […]
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Hatteras Inlet channel maintenance made simpler: Go with the flow
From coastalreview.org As it turns out, long-sought flexibility in maintenance of essential Hatteras Inlet navigation channels didn’t take an act of Congress. It boiled down to a much simpler concept: go-with-the-flow realignment. But with the finalized expanded authorization to dredge Rollinson Channel, it may seem like a Christmas miracle for islanders now relieved of navigating a […]
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1898 Oregon Inlet Life-Saving Station must go, but where?
December 19, 2022 | Island Features | By: Catherine Kozak | From The: Coastal Review | 1
The Old Oregon Inlet Life-Saving Station is one of the most beautiful historic buildings on the Outer Banks, situated at a dramatic coastal location that would befit a movie setting. But it’s got to go. Where and when and to whom is what the North Carolina Aquariums — the building’s current owner — is trying to figure […]
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Myriad problems led to Rodanthe’s doomed beach houses
December 2, 2022 | Local News | By: Catherine Kozak | From The: Coastal Review
Second in a series. As every nor’easter blows over the Outer Banks this winter, what is top of mind for many is whether another sagging oceanfront house along the Hatteras Island beaches will succumb to the pounding waves of the Atlantic. With a total of three large houses collapsing into the ocean so far this year, […]
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Underwater power lines cause another delay in finalizing Hatteras Ferry Channel realignment
Underwater power lines crossing Hatteras Inlet’s Connector Channel have created another delay in finalizing the realignment of the Hatteras Ferry Channel, also known as the Rollinson Channel. Shortly before Oct. 24, when the Army Corps of Engineers was expected to sign off on the draft Environmental Assessment (EA), the agency decided that it needed more […]
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Outer Banks community pays tribute to writer and fishing advocate Susan West
Susan West, a long-time advocate for the Hatteras Island fishing community and a writer who helped foster improved communications and respect between regulators and fishermen, died last week at age 73. “She made sure that Hatteras and those small fishing communities were never left out of the conversation,” recalled Karen Willis Amspacher, director of the […]
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A cycle of septic repairs, washouts on park service beaches
November 4, 2022 | Local News | By: Catherine Kozak | From The: Coastal Review | 6
First in a series. RODANTHE — Nothing good can be said about septic tanks leaking their foul contents onto a public beach. It sounds even worse that it’s within a national seashore on the Outer Banks renowned for its beautiful, clean beaches. That unfortunate reality illustrates the challenge adapting to rising seas under outmoded policies […]
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