Odor of Devastation Hangs 
Over Some Areas of North Carolina

What is it about North Carolina and named hurricanes that begin with the letter F?  Hurricanes Floyd (1999) and the recent Florence had it in for North Carolina.  No single state suffered more from these two whopper storms than did the Tar Heel State, and its residents will continue to feel the effects from Florence for years to come.  As if the wind and rain were not enough, swollen rivers and streams have, as they did in the wake of Floyd, unleashed flooding across a wide swath of the state.  In many cases, the floodwaters have carried for many miles dead animals and inadequately contained hog and chicken waste, making some areas uninhabitable and stinking, at least for the time being.

Hurricane Floyd, nearly 20 years ago, was a warning signal.  The 10 billion gallons of hog waste produced by the state’s nearly 10 million hogs, second in number only to Iowa, had been stored in “lagoons” designed to withstand about a foot of steady rain.  But Floyd dumped 15 to 20 inches in some areas and the waste flowed well beyond the containers’ edges, infiltrating streams and a few rivers.  The resulting algal blooms that sprouted in the waterways pretty much killed recreational fishing for the better part of a decade.  (To add to the problem, hog waste is treated with a chemical that, when released into ground water, is known to cut off oxygen to a baby’s red blood cells, turning the skin blue.)  As a result of Floyd, more than 30,000 hogs drowned, a clear warning signal of what might happen if another “500-year storm” should hit.  (And that is not counting all the chickens and turkeys that drowned; North Carolina, by the way, is the second largest producer of turkey meat, after Minnesota.)

The state fared better in Hurricane Matthew (2016), with only 15 lagoons reportedly overflowing their banks in the wake of about a foot of rain.  But state officials were clearly unprepared for the biblical proportions of Florence, with more than two feet of rain reported in many towns.  Although thousands of hogs were relocated before the storm, a reported 5,500 died in the floodwaters.  It was even worse for chickens and turkeys; an estimated 3.4 million of them died.  Making things even more tragic for residents of the eastern part of the state, the toxic by-product of coal burning, known as ash, washed out of ponds south of Wilmington.

One golf community in central North Carolina, River Landing in Wallace, was particularly affected by flooding.  The community is less than a mile north of Interstate 40 and about a 45-minute drive inland from Wilmington.  At that distance, it was spared the brunt of the storm’s winds and rain.  But its location along the Northeast Cape Fear River, a branch of the larger Cape Fear River in Wilmington, spelled trouble.  Florence made landfall in Wilmington’s Wrightsville Beach and created a storm surge that pushed up the Northeast Cape Fear well inland.  One River Landing homeowner was interviewed on the local television station.  (Click here.)  http://www.wunc.org/post/flooded-homeowners-waiting-hardest-part#stream/0

How Some Communities Weathered Florence

Ken Kirkman knows more about the operations of golf communities than virtually anyone in the industry.  He was a key player in the growth of Bald Head Island and Landfall in Wilmington, NC, and was the prime developer of Carolina Colours in New Bern.  If you were following mainstream news on The Weather Channel in mid September, you know that all those golf communities were pretty much at ground zero for Hurricane Florence.  I asked Ken for some updates.  (A slightly edited version of his notes follows.)  

Carolina Colours, New Bern, NC

New Bern on the whole fared poorly, but we were fortunate at Carolina Colours.  We had major flooding along the creek on the back nine (of the golf course) as the drainage runs into the creek, which empties into the Trent River, which had big time flooding.  That caused the creek to back up. Water level went down quickly, however, so our biggest problem was 112 trees down on the golf course.  No serious damage to greens or tees so as of October 3, we were re-opened to play and the course is in pretty decent shape, except for sand loss and silt in bunkers.  We had a lot of play this past weekend (10/5-6); players were amazed at how good the condition was.  Total revenue loss will be about $100,000 for the course, including lost revenue, half of which is covered by insurance.  I was very pleased with our drainage in the community and on the course; only where the creek flooded were there problems.

Overall, Carolina Colours had about 500 trees down in and around residential properties.  About 15 homes got hit, about half a dozen with fairly serious damage from rainwater when the roofs got hit and punctured.  Two homes got a few inches of water in parts of them from the creek flooding.  Considering we have about 300 homes, that was not too bad.  I spent the first two weeks after the storm coordinating tree service for owners, but we had prearranged for help to come in right after the storm, so as of today (10/8) you can hardly tell there has been a storm. 

Hundreds of residents in the New Bern area lost everything.  Downtown historical homes that had been there for more than 100 years took on water for the first time ever.

Landfall, Wilmington, NC

Landfall’s experience was similar to that of Carolina Colours, with mainly tree damage to houses.  Like us, they were well prepared and have done a good job cleaning up.  They had a few washouts in streets, which are now pretty much repaired, and they had some street flooding, which we didn't have.  Both Wilmington and New Bern were isolated on all sides for three to four days after the storm due to flooding inland.

Cypress Landing, Chocowinity, NC            

David Grahek, a resident of Cypress Landing, which is located on the Pamlico River in north central North Carolina, was kind enough to provide us with an update on the storm’s effect on his community a week after landfall.  Cypress Landing appeals to boaters as well as golfers, and David indicated that the community’s marina encountered rising waters, but since the docks float, there were no major issues.  The waterfront in the town of Washington, just a few minutes across the Chocowinity Bay, did take on a lot of water.  Cypress Landing’s position well above the Bay kept it from being flooded.  The Cypress Landing golf course, with a few holes near the Bay, fared well, with the most significant issue being lots of branches from the surrounding pine trees scattered across the course.  It took just three days of clean up to open the front nine, followed pretty quickly by the rest of the course. 
 

God Bless the Barrier Islands

They are called the “barrier” islands for good reason:  They provide a barrier to high winds and storm surge for low-lying coastal areas.  Among the most important barrier islands on the Southeast coast are Hilton Head, Daufuskie Island, Edisto, Kiawah and others.

Bald Head Island is one of them, and it took the brunt of Hurricane Florence.  

Those who remember the island in the late 90s when Hurricanes Floyd and Bertha came through say it was bad then, but nothing like during Florence, when much of the island was flooded. It took almost two weeks before property owners were permitted back on the island to assess damage to their homes.  A reported 100 homes were damaged enough to be condemned.   According to Bald Head Island golf course’s officials, the golf course practice facilities reopened last weekend and maintenance crews were out on the golf course clearing the fairways of debris after it went under water.

Bald Head Island counts on a fall rental season, but erosion and other leftover issues will probably cause a shortfall in rentals.

Your Editor’s Experience with Hurricane Florence

My wife Connie and I were lucky given that for days prior to Hurricane Florence’s arrival on the east coast, Pawleys Island seemed to be directly in its path.  We own a vacation condo there, and when South Carolina officials issued a mandatory evacuation for the town, we had every reason to be intimidated.

The truth is that we were certainly concerned, especially for our neighbors who are year-rounders there, but we have homeowner’s insurance and flood insurance that basically covered us for most of a potential total loss.

As it turned out, after the storm made landfall at Wilmington, NC, it did a little jig and passed just north of Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island.  Then the biggest concern was the Waccamaw River, which runs along the western edge of Pawleys Island and flows down to Georgetown, about 8 miles south of Pawleys Plantation.  Georgetown did see significant flooding, as did the river town of Conway farther north.

We were lucky.  But faced earlier with the threat of damage to our home, we were philosophical about things.  As Connie put it, “Well, we have talked about the need to redecorate at some point.”  When you choose to live in any area under threat of natural disasters — hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions — consider the lyrics from the song that Doris Day made popular in the mid-1950s:  “Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be…”

Larry Gavrich
Founder & Editor
Home On The Course, LLC