Safe on Corncrake Island
Some heavy rain, some gusty wind was all the hurricane brought to Ocracoke. The peak of the weather was between 2 to 5am, and even Capt. Rob slept soundly.
The island woke to blue skies, sunshine, rain puddles (but not tide), intact dunes, a nearly-clear highway, roaring surf, and a huge sense of relief.
Hurricane prep is exhausting, and not just physically. There's also the mental and emotional exhaustion of anxiety, and the very real PTSD for many whose homes flooded in Dorian. We weren't ready to do it again and hoped the tropical season would give us a break this year.
As it turns out, Isaias gave us a chance to prepare with a post-Dorian level of battening-down. It gave us a chance to weather a storm in the easiest way possible and increase our confidence. It also gave us a fun new nickname!
The social media pages were lit up with screenshots from the Weather Channel reporting about "Corncrake Island, North Carolina" where over 1500 cars had been ferried off to evacuate from Isaias. Who could that be but us?
Creativity ensued. Will there be t-shirts and stickers? Why, yes. We won't miss an opportunity to cash in on the Weather Channel's blunder. Think of how much they've cost us over the years!
Astute googlers discovered that a corncrake is a seabird that lives on the western coast of Scotland.
Further googling reveals that there used to be a "Corncrake Inlet" in North Carolina, which was a historical channel near the Cape Fear River. It was shoaled and closed in 1998 due to damage from Hurricane Bonnie.
Ocracoke...Corncrake... mistakes were made.
Thanks to Capt. Rob for getting up early and road to the north end of the island in pursuit of newsworthy photos for the Current.
