post Irene

We were incredibly lucky on Ocracoke during Irene.  The tides were low when the storm was passing to our west, and we came out of the storm in much better shape than our neighbors on Hatteras Island and on the Hyde County mainland. 

Late Saturday night the winds finally stopped and the crickets and frogs started up again, so we hauled the chairs back out to the porch and sat together in the deep darkness. 

On Sunday everyone started restoring order, taking boards off windows, putting boats back in the water, clearing limbs and the trees that went down, gathering piles of shingles that broke loose.  It was hot and still.  All over the island you could hear the thrum of generators and chainsaws.  Lots of helicopters made low passes over the island to assess our situation. 

Ferries were shuttling Emergency Service workers on Sunday and Monday, and the rest of us took long walks on the beach, or gathered some friends and went out in boats to visit Portsmouth.  Our cell service was up quickly, so there were lots of conversations reassuring evacuees and others that homes and vacation houses had weathered the storm. 

It seems unlikely that we'll be ready for visitors by Labor Day weekend, but everyone is encouraged to visit later this fall, once we are restored to a power supply.  Locals will be delighted to have the business, I promise.