CI f t deck 



New Rip Currents Poster 

 Available 



Rip currents can pull even experi- 

 enced swimmers away from shore. 

 Often mistakenly called undertows, 

 they are to blame for many beach 

 drownings each year. N.C. Sea Grant 

 has a new, eye-catching poster de- 

 signed to instruct swimmers how to 

 recognize and escape a rip current. 

 Earlier versions of this popular poster 

 have been credited for saving lives 

 along the coast. 



You can recognize a rip current — 

 by sight or by feel — and survive if 

 you know what to do and remain calm. 

 Contrary to myth, they don't suck 

 swimmers under. Rather, they are 

 formed anywhere water rushes out to 

 sea in a narrow path. The best response 

 is to swim parallel to shore until you're 

 out of the current or float until it 

 dissipates. 



The colorful, 1 l-by-25 1/2 inch 

 poster depicts a swimmer in a rip 

 current and explains with visuals and 

 words what to do. The poster also 

 illustrates two spots where rips are 

 likely to form — around a break in a 

 nearshore sandbar and where the 

 current is diverted by a groin or jetty. 

 The text describes what rip currents 

 are, how to recognize them from 

 shore and how to respond if you're 

 swept away. 



Printed on glossy paper with a 

 protective U/V coating, the poster can 

 be laminated for display outdoors. 

 Single copies are available free. Write 

 Sea Grant Publications, Box 8605, 

 N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 

 27695-8605. Ask for publication 

 number UNC-SG-95-03. To order 

 larger quantities, call 919/515-2454. 



Erosion Assistance To 

 Retreat in September 



More than 240 erosion-threatened 

 buildings in coastal North Carolina 

 have been voluntarily moved or 

 demolished using federal funds since 

 1988. But after Sept. 23, the burden of 



this cost will revert to individual 

 property owners. In the future, assis- 

 tance will be given only if the building 

 or structure has already been damaged 

 by a storm or flood. 



Congress has repealed the legisla- 

 tion that provides public assistance 

 through the National Flood Insurance 

 Program and placed the September 

 deadline on the filing of claims. 



"Owners of oceanfront property 

 threatened by shoreline erosion should 

 give serious consideration to starting 

 the claim process now if they wish to 

 take advantage of this last chance for 

 financial assistance," says Spencer 

 Rogers, N.C. Sea Grant's coastal 

 construction and erosion specialist. 



"It is extremely unlikely that 

 owners will ever again have the level of 

 financial support for moving to safer 

 ground or demolishing the building 

 without restrictions," he says. 



Rogers has a handout that describes 

 who qualifies for assistance and how to 

 file a flood insurance claim. For a copy, 

 call Rogers at the Fort Fisher Sea Grant 

 office, 910/458-5780. Or write to him 

 at P.O. Box 130, Kure Beach, NC 

 28449. 



Fast and Furious Hurricanes 

 Remembered 



Barbara, Carol, Diane and Ginger 

 were fast, fickle and dangerous. But 

 they weren't past loves or high school 

 sweethearts. They were hurricanes. 



In "North Carolina's Hurricane 

 History," Jay Barnes outlines the state's 

 repeated affairs with tropical cyclones 

 since 1526. Barnes, the director of the 

 N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, 

 interviewed coastal residents and 

 researchers and searched newspaper 

 reports, letters, National Weather 

 Service records, dusty books and 

 documents to compile almost 500 years 

 of Tar Heel hurricane history. 



More than 50 stories are recounted 

 of hurricanes that wreaked havoc on the 

 barrier islands, coastal communities and 

 landlocked Carolina cities. Told are the 



legends, the fears, the power of waves 

 and winds, and the oddities. 



There are the forgotten cyclones, 

 such as The Great Storm of Aug. 18, 

 1750, that destroyed the Onslow 

 County Courthouse and scattered all of 

 the county's records and deeds. 



And there are the storms that 

 people wish they could forget. Barnes 

 details the relentless winds and 

 blistering surf of the 1950s that gave 

 eastern North Carolina the nickname 

 "Hurricane Alley." Barbara, Carol, 

 Edna, Hazel, Connie, Diane, lone, 

 Helene and Donna all battered the 

 coast during this 10-year period. In 

 1954, Hazel killed 19 people, injured 

 more than 200 and caused an estimated 

 $136 million in property damages in 

 North Carolina alone. Hazel is one of 

 the worst U.S. hurricanes in 20th- 

 century history. 



Although the anecdotes and 

 sketches of early storms are intriguing, 

 it is the pictures Barnes compiled of 

 later storms such as Hazel that make 

 the book fascinating. 



The book is brimming with maps, 

 charts and diagrams that explain and 

 illustrate where hurricanes come from, 

 why they cause such destruction and 

 how we monitor them. The book also 

 includes chapters on how hurricanes 

 affect wildlife and how to survive 

 hurricanes and nor'easters (not hurri- 

 canes but sometimes as destructive). 



The book is available from the 

 University of North Carolina Press. It 

 is $16.95 in paperback and $34.95 in 

 hardcover. To order, call 1-800/848- 

 6224. 



Seafood Guru Cooks Up 

 Publicity 



N.C. Sea Grant has a rising 

 media star. 



Joyce Taylor, Sea Grant's seafood 

 education agent, was spotlighted in the 

 June issue of Wildlife in North Caro- 

 lina. 



In the article, entitled "Guru of 

 Seafood," writer Sarah Friday Peters 



24 JULY/AUGUST 1995 



