To see photographs taken around Ocracoke Village during Hurricane Dennis, please click on the links in the frame above.

Reproduced below is an article I wrote for the October 1999 edition of The Island Breeze (please note this is the pre-edited version). It was also edited down to 1,400 words as an article in the Thursday September 9, 1999 edition of The Outer Banks Sentinel.

Hurricane Dennis brushes Ocracoke Island

by Warner Passanisi


August has past, September is here, and Ocracoke Island has survived yet another Hurricane. Dennis did much damage on Ocracoke, with water levels rising considerably, and more trees blown down than anyone can remember. But thankfully no one was hurt, and there seems to have been no major structural damage on the island.

From August 30th until September 5th 1999, Dennis became the first (and hopefully the last) hurricane to visit our fragile region this year. Dennis was unusual in that it skirted the coast, hung around some out to sea off the Outer Banks, then started a completely new course, looped into itself and headed inland. This caused considerable consternation amongst residents who remained on Ocracoke. Not only was the weather system powerful, but it was also unpredictable. The loss of utilities, and transport to/from the island, as well as the deficit of information, ensured Hurricane Dennis would not be quickly forgotten.

I came to Ocracoke in early August 1998, having been here during three previous summers. Christina and I soon got married on the island, and I too became a resident. However, no sooner had I arrived than Hurricane Bonnie was upon us. "What an introduction to life on Ocracoke!" I thought at the time. We decided to stay and weather the storm (or "hunker down" as The Weather Channel characteristically epitomized this action), and I experienced my first ever hurricane. (Hurricane Earl arrived soon after and dumped even more water on Ocracoke than Bonnie.) We were lucky, and there was not much damage. Our business survived, and the island itself was relatively unscathed. In fact, Ocracoke was cleaned up quickly in time for a busy and successful Labor Day weekend.

Like other Ocracoke residents we were wary about what was predicted to be a busy hurricane season. We watched the hurricanes develop in the Atlantic basin. First Emily looked worrying, then died down. Then Cindy started to gain pace, but it moved away from land. Ever so slowly in the background, Dennis gathered force. Most people kept informed by watching The Weather Channel or frequently checking Internet sites. By Wednesday August 25th, Dennis was being forecast to cause a potential threat to Ocracoke. With Labor Day weekend only a week and a half off, people were starting to get worried.

With Dennis moving ever closer up the coast, Hurricane warnings were issued, and at noon on Sunday August 29th, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for Ocracoke Island. Having battened down their homes and belongings, many residents joined the tourists who left the island (by ferries that would cease operations later that day). Christina and I decided to stay on the Island, as did many other residents, most of who had been through close calls with previous hurricanes. We checked windows, tied down loose items, cleaned up much of our big lot, and parked our truck on high ground. Typically, most of the local channels, including The Weather Channel, were lost from cable TV on Sunday. Predictions were for Dennis to move closest to Ocracoke around Tuesday am. So like many other Ocracokers, we thought that we would have all of Sunday and Monday to prepare for the wind and water.

My sister in Australia had heard about the hurricane and telephoned me at 3:30 am on Monday morning to check that we were OK. By 5:30 am, the wind and rain was getting very strong. At 6:30 am, we decided to move with our emergency supplies of food, clothes, and other essentials, to Oscar?s House, a unique bed and breakfast just across the road that is owned by our friend, Ann Ehringhaus. Ann had kindly offered to let us hunker down with her as we had done during Hurricane Bonnie last year.

As the morning progressed, we watched and listened through the windows as the wind got stronger and the water level rose steadily. It got very dark outside, and soon we were judging the water level by the number of bricks we could still see on the wall outside the window. A massive wooden beam from the back yard had floated off its mooring, next door's gas tank was floating, and Highway 12 was completely under water. Most of the island lost electricity by 9:30 am, just after the cable TV died. The telephones went dead later in the afternoon. We listened into local FM stations with a battery-powered radio. By the high tide around 11 am, the rain was still beating down, the wind was howling, and the whole of Ocracoke was under water.

One of the most surreal moments of Sunday was seeing Jesse Spencer in his skiff motoring up Highway 12 and many side streets, as if a new creek had just formed.

"I'm just going up and down, and checking on folks," shouted Jesse through the rain.

An occasional high-axled truck ventured down the highway, but it was at least two feet deep in front of the East Carolina Bank. Once the wind and rain died down a little, more people ventured out and waded through the floodwaters.

Most of the boats usually moored at Silver Lake Harbor had previously been either well tethered to a secure location, or moved into Oyster Creek for added protection, or else taken out of the water all together. However, at least three boats were blown away from their anchorage points, though none were damaged.

There was some flood damage at the Pony Island Motel office, and at Martha Garrish's Ocracoke Island Realty Office.

"I really thought that we had Monday morning to prepare for the Hurricane," said Martha. "I spent all of Saturday and Sunday sorting out all my rentals, and was planning Monday for my office."

The whole of our lot was flooded. Our business, Deepwater Pottery, was indeed in the middle of some deepwater. There were at least 7 trees down; one fallen tree narrowly missed our parked truck. Another large fallen cedar at the front of the house was resting precariously on two other trees that kept it from falling to the ground. But its roots were pulling at the brick foundation pillar of the building. So to lessen the chance of it blowing over in heavier winds to come, I got out there with an axe and chopped into the roots to relieve some of the pressure on the pillar. (The next afternoon, we managed to cut down that cedar, without any further damage.)

Deepwater Theatre was in relatively good condition. One very large pine had been blown over from Calvin O'Neal's yard next door, and was resting on the roof of the Theatre, but miraculously had not damaged the roof.

"It's crazy," explained Calvin. "I've lived here for 73 years, and I've never lost a single tree in this wood. Last night I lost at least 11. I've never known so many trees come down around here."

The house in which Christina and I got married, next door to the home of David and Cheryl Senseney, also narrowly missed damage when the two massive cedars in their front yard were blown down but laid to rest inches from the roof. As with so many other trees the whole shallow root system slipped out of the ground as if there was nothing securing it there in the first place.

This was the story over much of the island. Trees down everywhere, though no apparent damage to buildings or vehicles. The live oaks faired better than the cedars. One of the worst hit places was beautiful Howard Street. Two casualties of Dennis were a large live oak and an old elm tree, each of which came to rest across the street. Several cedars were downed, including three outside John Ivey's mother's house, Dicie's House. The only tree that survived was the one on which the "Dicie's House" sign was fixed.

"The three trees all fell away from the house," said John. "One pulled the roots up like they weren't there. The other trees were just snapped in two like twigs."

Phillip Howard's new tree house survived the storm, but his old fig tree will probably have to be cut down.

"I checked the water level this morning," stated Phillip, "and it was about one half an inch lower than the Gloria line."

Phillip later added a Dennis line on his hurricane flood level sign outside his business.

Most Ocracokers considered this the worst storm since Hurricane Gloria struck in 1985, and certainly the worst flooding. Some homes saw some minor flood damage, and some had water seepage. Mildew could be found in many homes.

Remarkably, no one was reported hurt, and no major structural damage seems to have occurred. The National Park Service public access boat ramp at the ferry station was destroyed, and several jetties in Oyster Creek were damaged. Many houses had damaged or missing roof shingles.

One of the two ferries that remained in Silver Lake Harbor clocked the wind speed at 108 mph. It was reported that the winds reached 128 mph before finally blowing the weather station off Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

The storm intensity died down over the rest of Monday and beyond, though there was much rain keeping the water level high, and the roads difficult to travel. The resilient Tideland EMC crew were already out and about on Tuesday morning.

"We plan to have everybody's electricity back on line by noon today," said Bobby O'Neal. Good to his word, the island's generator was later turned on, and power came back to most residents before they had time to ask for help.

On Wednesday, after some residents had been told that there was no possibility of telephone lines being operational again within two weeks, most telephones in the village started working again. This still hasn't been accounted for, as apparently no one was actually around to work on the necessary repairs. Most cable TV channels came back, except of course all the local stations. Thursday saw the commencing of the ferry service again, with trips to/from Swan Quarter for residents, property owners and emergency services. Many residents came back to the island.

Emergency teams had been arriving by helicopter since Tuesday. Peter Stone was coordinating Ocracoke's emergency response from the village ferry terminal. He was assisted by David Styron, Wayne Teeter, Leon Mooney, and representatives from the National Park Service. By Thursday, there were also teams from the National Guard, FEMA, the State Emergency Response Team, the Special Operations Response Team, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Departments of Transport and Highways, as well as an emergency medical team. A couple of ham radio operators on the island had been in communication with the mainland over the previous days, and had been relaying information.

The National Guard handed out emergency roofing materials to those with damaged houses. The Salvation Army were housed in the Community Center and started to make three free hot meals a day for residents until Saturday. This was a welcome activity, much appreciated by the many residents who ate there. The Salvation Army also did a meal run for some 21 older residents who were unable to come to the Community Center.

Ocracoke braced itself again on Saturday. Dennis had stayed some 100 miles East of Hatteras for what seemed like ages. It finally made landfall south of Ocracoke on Saturday evening, and continued up NorthWest, barely causing much trouble on the island. By Sunday morning, Dennis had passed, and the cleaning up could begin in earnest.

Ocracoke faired well compared to further up the beach. Unconfirmed reports were coming in of major damage to Highway 12 north of Buxton, and even that those still on Hatteras Island would be ferried down via Ocracoke to the mainland. But for most Ocracoke residents, reliable information was hard to come by throughout these difficult times. Thomas Yocum did provide a wonderful service by daily gathering information and disseminating in the form of a newsletter posted every day at noon at strategic locations around in the village. There was no official word from the emergency teams about the status of operations or plans for the future, and many residents were left wondering what exactly was happening. Individuals had to go searching for officials to find out information, and, of course, those officials were often out and about assessing damage and needs. In fact, the best location to find out information was the Community Center at meal times.

The health clinic was operational from Tuesday, as was the Variety Store, the Community Store, and Howard's Pub. The first mail was received and sent on Thursday. All residents operating public services made special efforts to start as soon as possible.

I am writing this on Monday: Labor Day. This should be one of the busiest days of the year on Ocracoke, and the finale for the summer tourist season. Yet, there are no tourists on the island today, and it is still not known when they will be allowed back to Ocracoke. The road still seems to be out north of Buxton. School starts tomorrow, and I understand that children in Hatteras will be escorted to school tomorrow by the National Guard. A 24-member Disaster Team from the North Carolina Baptist men has arrived in Ocracoke to assist people with tree cutting and disposal, and is doing a remarkable job. The Swan Quarter-based Department of Transport team continues to pick up tree debris off the side of the road and transport it to the rapidly growing pile of limbs and leaves at the temporary trash collection site at the airport. There are also three containers for storm debris, and normal garbage collection has resumed. The Salvation Army remains to feed these and other helpers. The majority of the helpers are being housed in the Anchorage Inn.

It occurred to me that after spending the past 6 years coordinating international emergency relief missions to war-torn parts of the globe, that here I was on an island paradise, actually being a grateful recipient of aid.

Like many others, I have spent the past few days with a chain saw, cutting down beautiful old trees, and tidying up a big mess on our property. Ocracoke has been reverberating to the sound of chain saws during the day, and the cacophony of frogs and crickets in the evening. The mosquitoes are loving the standing water, and many people have been subjected to minor sunburn during the past two-day's brilliant sunshine. Only now is poison ivy skin starting to appear. Most residents are tired, worn out, and glad to see the sun again. It's going to be a long haul for many to put right the damage caused by Hurricane Dennis.

But a more powerful feeling for some, Christina and myself included, is the pervading sense of community that has lifted the spirits above all the weather woes. A functioning community gains strength from people checking on and helping their neighbors, from sharing meals and homes, making shopping runs, and for loaning trucks and chain saws. Just to mention one example, Woody Billings took the time by himself to visit and secure many houses, especially of those people not then on the island, and then check the status after Dennis had passed through. Surely the spirit of a community is shaped most profoundly in times of great social, economic, or environmental stress. We've had all of these this week. For natives, and those who have chosen to live in Ocracoke Village, we were reminded yet again this week of how fragile and special is this beautiful island. Mother Nature is still very much in charge.

How many times have I heard over the past couple of days O'cockers saying that they would never choose to live anywhere else? Having survived my third Hurricane on Ocracoke, I too feel this way. There's nothing like visiting the beach for the first time after a storm, or wading up to your thighs in water down a major highway, or seeing a family of Carolina wrens chase the myriad insects after the rains. However, probably the most inspiring memory I will carry with me from this week is an experience from yesterday evening.

Donald Davis, the world-renowned storyteller and Ocracoke resident, and his wife Merle, came back to the island on the first ferry after Dennis had passed through. He was due to tell stories at Deepwater Theatre last evening. Instead, however, he decided to give a free show at the Community Center as a sign of gratitude to the Salvation Army, and to get all of our minds off the weather. He assured us that he would not mention the words "hurricane" or "Dennis". There was an excellent turnout. Donald told two hilarious stories from his childhood and the evening was full of fun and laughter. It seemed to many as though the Community Center was really serving its purpose. It occurred to me last night that before eating the Salvation Army hot meals this week, the only other time I had ever been inside the Community Center was to hear Donald?s stories this time last year.

I am happy to call Ocracoke home.