It is that time of year, the storms have been heading to the coast, and those of us living on the coast have been keeping a wary eye on the skies.
Most of the people living on the coast are ones who have already made their peace with the possibility of storms.
It something like living in Northern Virginia with the potential threat of terrorism. You know the risks and have accepted them. The good outweighs the dangers.
Living in coastal Carolina makes it easy to respect the the power of mother nature, but just like the threat of terrorism, you cannot let it rule your life. You can spend a lot of time watching the skies, and no storm shows up. Or the storm can be like Hanna and not much happens even with a near hit.
There is not much in life that is risk free. Actually I would say that trying to live a risk free life is probably not a good thing. A little risk in your life keeps you on your toes.
It is similar to driving in Northern Virginia where you either keep on your toes or end up in a wreck. When I go to an area with less aggressive driving, I always feel that my driving skills deteriorate once I leave Northern Virginia where it is clear only the quickest reflexes make it.
Having a near miss like Hanna also ends up being good for us on the coast in that we get some practice for times when we really do get a storm. Our emergency supplies and procedures get a fresh look.
I was surprised to hear that Hanna dumped more rain on the Washington, DC area than it did here on the coast. Even Nova Scotia got more rain than we did from Hanna.
That's one of the most surprising things that I have learned about tropical storms. The storms often present a greater danger to inland areas than they do to coastal areas. If we can survive the storm surge and winds, we are usually fine because there are no constricted river channels to prevent things from quickly draining.
While my experience with tropical storm Hanna suggests that I would probably head for the hills if a Category 3 or greater storm headed our way, I was pleased to see that we are able to take a storm surge of three to four feet with no problems. I even posted some pictures to show water levels during Hanna and after the storm. I think we would probably be okay with a five foot surge as long as it did not come at high tide.
Knowing about storm surges is just another way to make living on the Southern Outer Banks a little safer for us.
It is not a whole lot different than knowing which roads stay icy in the winter and are best skipped.
