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Hurricane Dennis (1999)
Buxton, North Carolina
 Storm Overwash - Airphoto (9/8/1999): Aerial photograph, looking
southward, showing where storm wave overwash impacted NC Highway 12
north of Buxton. For more airphotos of this location, including a pre-storm
aerial photograph, see Oblique Aerial Photography Index -
Location 11.
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Selected Locations Selected Survey Locations: Click on the other location above,
Rodanthe, NC, to see photographs and data plots from lidar
for that location. |
Waves generated by Hurricane Dennis eroded protective dunes and destroyed
parts of NC Highway 12. The road, originally adjacent to the line of
telephone poles shown in the photographs, was relocated farther inland.
Note the bend in the road where new asphalt was being poured as the aerial
photograph was being acquired. Also note the new position of the Hatteras
Lighthouse, which has been recently relocated away from the eroding shoreline.
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 Storm Overwash - On the Ground (9/9/1999): Taken atop the replacement dune at Buxton,
NC, this photograph shows the former location of NC Highway 12. North
Carolina road crews acted quickly to repair the roads and restore the
protective dunes.
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Just five days after Hurricane Dennis made landfall (at tropical storm strength), crews had
bulldozed sand to recreate a protective dune, and the repaired road was reopened to traffic.
The new road is located to the extreme right in the photograph at right.
Before Hurricane Dennis, the dune at this location was nearly 6.5 meters high. The
replacement dune is located landward of the original dune, and is approximately 1.5 meters
lower then the dune destroyed during the storm. Note the overwash deposit landward of
the road bed in the plot below.
Topographic Profiles: Cross-shore profiles (based on laser
altimetry data) of the area where the road was impacted north of
Buxton, NC. |
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