For the most part, non-resident property owners on Hatteras and Ocracoke are happier with the preparation for and response to Hurricane Irene than residents said they were.
The major points of contention with the non-resident owners were the length of time before they were allowed on the islands, especially Hatteras, to inspect their properties and the decision by Dare County to let visitors back to the southern villages before Highway 12 was repaired and opened.
The Island Free Press Survey: Hurricane Irene response was filled out by 415 non-resident owners of property on Hatteras and Ocracoke.
Here are the villages in which the respondents? property is located:
- Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo — 30 percent.
- Avon — 26 percent.
- Buxton — 9 percent.
- Frisco ?17 percent
- Hatteras ? 14 percent
- Ocracoke ? 4 percent
Eighty-five percent of the respondents own houses on the islands. Seven percent own apartments or condos. Five percent own mobile homes or camping trailers, and 3 percent own lots or campsites.
Seventy percent of the non-resident owners were not on the island before the hurricane, but 123 of them were here. Of that number, 111 evacuated and 12 did not.
These property owners support staged re-entry with residents allowed back first? 79 percent were in favor with only 16 percent opposed. However, that does contrast with the 97 percent of island residents who favor staged re-entry.
Twenty-three percent of this group thinks that re-entry should be immediately, by whatever means possible. That is lower than residents, 34 percent of whom were in favor of immediate re-entry. Most think that re-entry should not be until after food, water, gas, and power are restored.
Seventy percent said the experience with Hurricane Irene had not changed their attitude about evacuation. And 75 percent said they would evacuate if a mandatory evacuation is issued in the future. Sixty-seven percent would leave in a Category 1 or 2 hurricane.
The top reason for evacuating with this group, as with residents, was fear of injury or loss of life, with taking children?s out of harm?s way also important to them.
Fifty-seven percent of the respondents rent their homes seasonally or year-round, and 44 percent do not.
Of the 246 who rent their houses, 207 said their property is managed by a rental company.
Of those 207 respondents, 79 percent said the rental company kept them informed about the condition of the property after the storm, while 20 percent thought they were not well informed.
The non-resident owners with rental management companies gave them high marks for their performance during and after the storm. Seventy-one percent rated their company as good or excellent, while only 11 percent found the company?s performance poor or unacceptable.
Non-resident owners gave the Dare County Board of Commissioners higher ratings on its overall performance than residents did.
Twenty percent of non-residents said they didn?t know enough to rate the board.
Of the 80 percent who did weigh in, only 13 percent of non-resident owners gave the county board a poor or unacceptable rating, while 39 percent of residents did. Fifty percent of non-residents gave the board a good or excellent rating, compared to only 31 percent of residents.
A very high number of non-resident property owners said they did not know enough about performance to rate the rest of the public agencies and utilities in the survey ? up to 70 percent in some cases.
However, those who did rate the performance of the agencies mostly mirrored the resident evaluations.
They heaped praise on the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative and the Dare County Water Department. They had mostly positive comments for the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the department?s Ferry Division. They had very few negative comments for the Sheriff?s Office and the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Most didn?t know enough about the situation to rate telephone, cell phone, and cable companies. However, if you read the comments of the non-resident property owners, you will see instances of dissatisfaction with service from all of the companies.
And, finally, the non-resident property owners, like the island residents, had almost nothing good to say about the National Park Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sixty percent of the respondents did not know enough to rank the NPS, but of those who did rank them, 22 percent had negative comments compared to 12 percent with a good or excellent rating. The numbers were about the same for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
As with residents, it?s obvious from reading comments on these two agencies, that property owners just don?t like them for reasons that have nothing to do with the hurricane.
Non-resident property owners made 39 pages of comments on the survey and the 14 agencies they were asked to evaluate.
The comments are instructive and we hope will be useful to these agencies in the future.
Almost all of the non-resident owners support the concept that residents whose only home is on Hatteras should get priority after a storm.
However, their general frustration with being kept from their properties for so long is evident.
It is clear from their comments that communication was often a problem and that the decision to open up the southern villages to visitors just shortly after property owners were allowed back was generally condemned.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Complete Hurricane Irene survey results from all non-resident property owners
Complete comments and evaluation from all non-resident property owners
