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AP Explains: Why North Carolina is vulnerable to hurricanes

AP Explains: Why North Carolina is vulnerable to hurricanes | iNFOnews.ca
FILE-In this Oct. 15, 1954 file photo, Hurricane Hazel destruction is seen in Morehead City, N.C. The last time the midsection of the East Coast stared down a hurricane like Florence, Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House and Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were newlyweds. Florence could inflict the hardest hurricane punch the Carolinas have seen in more than 60 years, with rain and wind of more than 130 mph (209 kph). (AP Photo/Clifton Guthrie, File)

The immense power of Hurricane Florence could be especially damaging to North Carolina’s vulnerable coast, where vast amounts of new development now stand on the shifting sands of barrier islands amid the rising waters of climate change.

Experts said Tuesday that the combination of unwise development and climate change could make the storm North Carolina’s most destructive on record.

The state’s low-lying Outer Banks and other barrier islands are particularly vulnerable to being washed over from both sides by storm surges, and climate change is worsening the situation. Warmer waters increase the size and intensity of hurricanes. As sea levels rise, shorelines become more vulnerable.

And while barriers islands typically shift slowly toward the mainland, development is artificially holding them in place, making them more vulnerable.

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Abbey Westbury

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