"it must be able 

 to survive long- 

 term erosion, a typi- 

 cal and natural 

 phenomenon. A 

 second concern is 

 temporary erosion 

 caused by a major 

 hurricane or 

 storm." 



To aid the 

 property owner in 

 selecting a building 

 site and meeting the standards for 

 federal flood insurance, the Office of 

 Coastal Management (OCM) conduc- 

 ted a study to determine ocean erodi- 

 ble areas of environmental concern. 

 Rogers worked with the OCM staff, 

 mapping beach profiles and measuring 

 long-term erosion, to determine which 

 areas along the coast suffer the most 

 severe changes. As a result of the 

 study, the state chose setback stan- 

 dards for building which are regulated 

 by the Coastal Area Management Act 

 (CAMA). 



As for building on the coast and sur- 

 viving a storm, Rogers says that's just 

 like flipping coins with your house — 

 heads or tails, win or lose. He explains 

 that in this manner: A 100-year storm 

 has a one-percent chance of occurrence 

 in any given year. The average useful 

 lifetime of a residence is roughly 70 

 years before it wears out or is 

 destroyed by other causes. The 

 chances of a beach home experiencing 

 at least a 100-year storm are roughly 

 50-50. Over the life of a 30-year 

 mortgage, chances are about one in 

 four that the beach house will be hit by 

 a major hurricane. 



With such high risks, Rogers says 

 building to exceed the minimum con- 

 struction standards is frequently a 

 wise investment. Rogers has worked 

 with the state in revising and updating 

 building codes to make structures 

 more resistant to high winds, crashing 

 waves, storm surge, flooding and ero- 

 sion. 



"In building near the beach," 

 Rogers says, "the most consistent 

 error people make is that they 

 drastically underestimate the degree of 

 change that goes on. Structures cannot 

 always survive those changes. People 

 take learned concepts of building in 

 Raleigh or Kansas, where the land 

 processes are very slow events, and try 

 to apply them to the coastal area. The 

 surface veneer down here is always 



Photo courtesy of the Division of Archives and History 



This old photo shows the damages and the boats washed up in the streets 

 of Swansboro after flooding from Hurricane Hazel 



changing," he explains, "and they 

 must keep that in mind when they 

 build." 



• Flooding is the major cause of 

 destruction during a hurricane. The 

 storm surge and torrential rains that 

 accompany the storm raise the water 

 level, flooding low-lying areas while 

 waves and currents erode beaches, un- 

 dermine coastal structures and wash 

 out roads. Nine out of 10 hurricane- 

 related deaths are due to drowning. 

 Lives and property could be saved if 

 there were some method of determin- 

 ing which areas flood and by how 

 much. Researchers on a new Sea Grant 

 project are working on just such a 

 method. 



C. C. Tung, a professor of civil 

 engineering at NCSU, and his grad- 

 uate assistants are 

 refining a state-of- 

 the-art computer 

 model that can 

 simulate overflow 

 and flooding in 

 coastal areas. 

 Geographical data 

 has been plugged in i A 

 for six sample *W 

 profiles which will A 

 be used to test the ™ 

 model: Browns In- Tung 



/ j 



let, Kure Beach, Wilmington, 

 Roanoke Island, Hampstead and Cape 

 Fear. By putting in information on the 

 speed, intensity and direction of the 

 storm, Tung hopes the model will be 

 able to predict not only the storm 

 surge and height of waves associated 

 with a specific hurricane, but also how 

 far inland the water will move. 



In the last century, North Carolina 

 has had its share of flood damages 

 from hurricanes. Between 1897 and 

 1955, 67 hurricanes caused flooding in 

 the state. Storm surge, the rapid swell 

 in the water level produced by winds 

 and falling barometric pressure, 

 reached a height of 15 feet above nor- 

 mal with Hurricane Hazel in 1954. The 

 torrential rains and sudden flooding 

 that also came with the storm ac- 

 counted for most of the 100 million 

 dollars worth of damage. 



"Determination of flooding is im- 

 portant in helping state and federal 

 governments, industries and residents 

 to determine where facilities can be 

 built without undue damage when 

 hurricane-related floods occur," Tung 

 says. When complete, he says the 

 model will be made available to state 

 and federal government agencies. 



"The development of such models 

 should eventually serve two pur- 



