Coastal Change Hazards: Hurricanes and Extreme Storms

Nor'Ida

Pre- and Post-Storm Photo Comparisons - Virginia

Location map for Virginia before/after photographs.

Location 1: Oblique aerial photography from Wallops Island, VA on May 21, 2009 (top) and December 4, 2009 (bottom), roughly two weeks after the storm. The yellow arrows point to the same location in each photograph. The protective beach fronting this section of the NASA facility on Wallops Island was severely eroded, exposing what appears to be more than one generation of shore protection structures. Some overwash deposition is evident in the post-storm photograph, particularly in the right (north) half of the image. [larger version]

Location 2: Oblique aerial photography from Cedar Island, VA on May 21, 2009 (top) and December 4, 2009 (bottom), roughly two weeks after the storm. The yellow arrows point to the same location in each photograph. This location is characterized by extreme erosion, to the point where the small beach has disappeared and an overwash deposit has been eroded exposing, in places, an underlying marsh surface. This response suggests that the beach system may have been inundated during some part of the storm. At this time we do not know if the missing house was lost during this storm or removed prior. No debris is evident in the photo, another indication of inundation regime if, in fact, the house was lost during Nor’Ida. [larger version]