LATE REPORTING: The Sandy Hangover

This is the north end of the Cape Charles pubic beach. At least two rounds of FEMA money washed away. However, there was a time within memory when this boardwalk towered like a cliff over distant sand. So, some of the grant-funded beach improvement survives.


I'm sorry to be posting these pictures a day late.  I ran around alot, yesterday, finally free of the house, but couldn't really cope with anything constructive. Not even a shower, although we actually had heat and water thanks to the grace of God, uninterupted power, and a non-flooded (although written off in advance) furnace.

Yesterday, as Sandy was leaving and guys in trucks flooded the roads, the Cape Charles town harbor appeared essentially unharmed. Breakers crashed over the outer harbor bulkheads, but the new decks and buildings stood unaffected. There were even employees at the Shanty. No customers while we were there--but still. Yesterday we were all in shock.

Fourteen tankers and one big cruise ship had anchored near Cape Charles to ride out the storm. This is normal procedure for big ships around here. I've often wondered how much of a spill hazard they pose to the coastline, but nothing bad has happened yet.

Sandy scoured the beaches and cut slices through the dunes. Caravans of tree cutting trucks (one group from Alabama) tooled up Rt.13, heading for harder hit communities. Yet every house I checked for friends, and my own buildings were unflooded and not blown apart.

The people in Seabreeze apartments suffered. But, overall, I think this region lucked out.