Coastal Change Hazards: Hurricanes and Extreme Storms

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.

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.

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.

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.