The Carolina Beach Yacht Basin

We are now in the middle of another hurricane season. Beach dwellers along our Atlantic and Gulf coasts brace themselves for another possible hit.

This is a photograph of the yacht basin at Carolina Beach, North Carolina, circa 2020.  The view is almost directly south. On the left is a narrow strip of land that extends about two miles north of this point.  Along the entire length of this strip the ocean is separated from the sound by no more than 150 yards. In 1954 I was living in a house located on this narrow strip, and in October of that year Hurricane Hazel struck that area.  Ocean waters and sound waters came together around and in our house, and many beach homes were totally demolished.  My parents managed to restore their house to a livable state and mother remained there until shortly after my father’s death in 1958.

Since 1954 this area has been struck by other severe storms, and the strip has never been fully redeveloped.  Another truly powerful hurricane might virtually wipe it out.

The last time I visited Carolina Beach I looked for my old home, but evidently it had gone with the wind and the tides — along with many memories of days gone by.

The other houses on the strip remain as hurricane bait.