At such times I’ve always faced a dilemma: to get to the Variety Store and Post Office from my house along the banks of Back Road do I chance the uncharted depths of Ocean View Drive or brave the Mariana Trench on Back Road between Blackbeard’s Lodge and the Secret Garden?
I’ve always been a little shy of the latter option ever since the time just after a hurricane when I was wading along the edge of the road trying to get to the store and saw a hat floating in the center. When I reached out and picked it up, I was amazed to see one of my friends grimacing up from beneath it.
“Damn, John!” I said, “You’re in trouble now ain’t ya?”
“No,” he said, “I’m okay but I’m a little concerned about my horse!”
All right, so it didn’t quite happen like that (in fact I stole it from the Maine humorist, Joe Parham) but it is true that every time I’ve ever tried to walk, bike, or drive my golf cart through there when it’s flooded, it never fails that some inconsiderate cretin cowboy comes barreling through heading the opposite way in an elevated monster truck, totally engulfing me in his wake.
In fact, a local humorist (I suspect Bob Ray or Kevin Hardy, both of whom have waterfront property there) posted a sign a while back that said “No Wake!” Worried about beachfront erosion, no doubt.
Well the good news is that something is finally being done to drain Blackbeard's Lake. (Fun fact: this puddle is over 60 feet long and shows up on Google Earth!)
For the past couple of days, the NCDOT, assisted somewhat by the local water plant crew, have been digging up the road and installing a 13” pipe under it that will join two grated drainage boxes (one on either side of the road) and connect them to a 15” pipe, which was installed last summer by the Ocracoke Mosquito Control Board to carry the excess water to drainage ditches that eventually split, sending some of the runoff to the creek south of Springer’s Point and some to Oyster Creek.
I checked with Dave Frum who assured me that the aforementioned ditches are at a lower elevation than the road. He and the rest of the people working on this are quite familiar with Newton’s Third Law of Plumbing, i.e., “[liquids] don’t run uphill." (The first laws being, “Cold on the right” and “Hot on the left.”) These folks’ qualifications are evident in the vertical line just above the back of their belts.
By the time you read this they should be all done and the road reopened. And the next time it rains hard the road should be high and dry.
If, like me, you’re deeply grateful for this improvement in our infrastructure (or just like to throw around trendy big words like “infrastructure”), next time you see Justin LeBlanc, give him a high five. It’s folks like him with years of government experience and an indefatigable willingness to cut through bureaucratic red tape that get things like this done.
Three years ago, when he was serving on the board of the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association, Justin was made aware of citizen concerns about ponding of water on our roads. He chaired a Stormwater Task Force to see what could be done. It tuned out the state DOT was willing to put drains under the roads as long as some other individuals or organizations could conduct the water away, and property owners would give permission for it to be done.
There are numerous ditches throughout the village that are thought to have been dug years ago by the U.S. government and/or private property owners. The Ocracoke Mosquito Control Board works to keep these ditches clear to enhance flow and thereby reduce mosquito breeding. It seems no good deed goes unpunished, so Justin has recently been awarded the chairmanship of that board! Congrats, Justin!
To get perspective on the long process to this momentous drain installation, check out these Current articles here and here.
Justin and the rest of the Mosquito Control Board and Stormwater Task Force will continue to improve the island one puddle at a time. "There are a dozen of bad puddles," Justin said. "But this one at Blackbeard's is arguably the worst." And now, it will be just a bad memory. Bring on the rain!
For anyone who might resist change and revere the past, fear not! The new drain at Blackbeard's Lake will work best for water that falls from the sky. When it swells up from the ground in the hoi toide of a saltwater storm surge, the lake will probably (temporarily) return.