d f t deck 



Digital Mapping to 

 Benefit Brunswick 



When Hurricane Hugo brushed 

 southeastern North Carolina in Sep- 

 tember 1989, high winds and water 

 bruised Brunswick County's 

 year-round homes and businesses to 

 the rune of $2.5 million, according to 

 the state's Division of Emergency 

 Management. Injury to beaches, 

 roads and public structures was up- 

 ward of $72 million. 



So when the Federal Emergency 

 Management Agency provided 

 money to assuage part of the damage 

 on the coast and inland areas such as 

 Charlotte, it reserved a percentage of 

 the funds to brace for the future. This 

 standard FEMA procedure is known 

 as hazard mitigation. 



"Rather than just use the disaster 

 relief money to pick up the pieces, 

 the mitigation grants are used to re- 

 duce the damage next time," says 

 Spencer Rogers, Sea Grant's coastal 

 engineering specialist. 



A $328,000 federal grant — 

 matched equally by N.C. State Uni- 

 versity and its benefactors — will be 

 used to map vulnerable areas along 

 such beaches as Long and Sunset 

 and to keep future damage to a mini- 

 mum. 



NCSU civil engineering profes- 

 sors John Fisher and Margery 

 Overton will use existing aerial pho- 

 tographs to produce digital maps of 

 erosion-prone areas. 



"This project will seek to 

 develop new techniques using 

 state-of-the-art computer mapping 

 systems to identify the most threat- 

 ened stretches of ocean shoreline in 

 Brunswick County," says Fisher, 

 adding that the models could be ap- 

 plied in other areas of North Carolina 

 in the future. 



This small-scale pilot study 

 could help target safe evacuation 



routes for the county, identify at-risk 

 structures and provide local planners 

 with information regarding shoreline 

 erosion rates, dune elevations and 

 flood-prone areas. 



Work on the project began this 

 fall and should take three years to 

 complete. 



Underwater Dinosaurs 



Treat yourself, your family or 

 your students to an unforgettable "un- 

 dersea" adventure at the N.C. State 

 Fair, Oct. 15-24. Drop by Dinama- 

 tion's Sea Creatures, Dinosaurs of 

 the Deep, an exhibit sponsored by the 

 N.C. State Museum of Natural Sci- 

 ences and the Friends of the Museum. 



Encounter lifelike animated crea- 

 tures that inhabited our oceans mil- 

 lions of years ago. 



Shudder at the Kronosaurus, a 

 ferocious marine reptile with a huge 

 head, short neck and immense jaws as 

 much as 9 feet long that were equip- 

 ped with 80 sharp 9-inch teeth. 



Gasp at the Basilosaurus, a 



slender-bodied, lizardlike marine 

 mammal that measured between 40 

 and 80 feet long. 



Gawk at the armor-plated 5-ton 

 Dunkleosteus, a savage-looking fish 

 with cleaverlike projections that jut- 

 ted from its powerful jaws, enabling it 

 to crush and slice its prey. 



And after visiting these amazing 

 creatures, be sure to allow time for 

 the "Discovery Tent." Hands-on 

 learning stations offered in the tent 

 will reinforce and supplement infor- 

 mation presented in the exhibit area. 



Activities will include a fossil 

 dig, crayon rubbings of prehistoric 

 animals and several water-based in- 

 teractive displays that encourage dis- 

 covery of what it means to live in wa- 

 ter. 



Admission to the exhibit is $3 

 and is not included in the general fair 

 admission cost. School groups can 

 purchase advance tickets for $2, and 

 teachers should reserve a scheduled 

 time slot for visiting the exhibit. To 

 purchase advance tickets and sched- 

 ule a time slot, call the Friends office 

 at 919/733-7450. 



Sea Grant Agent 

 Outstanding in Field 



Sea Grant Marine Advisory Ser- 

 vice Agent Bob Hines was selected as 

 a 1993 recipient of N.C. State Univer- 

 sity's Outstanding Extension Service 

 Award. Each year, the Chancellor's 

 Office bestows the honor on six to 

 eight employees who serve the uni- 

 versity in extension roles. 



Hines, an agent for 14 years in 

 the Pine Knoll Shores office, has 

 responsibilites in fisheries in a 

 five-county area of central coastal 

 North Carolina. Hines has built a rap- 

 port with local commercial fisher- 

 men, an independent group that is of- 

 ten shy of government agencies. Most 

 recently, Hines has worked exten- 



22 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1993 



