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Volume 69, Number 1
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‘In the whole scheme of things, we dodged the bullet.’
HURRICANE WATCH
a
menace;
damage
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer • ■
An estimated six inches of rain satu
rated Southport-Oak Island Sunday
night and early Monday , morning as
Hurricane Dennis pelted this section of
the coast with gale-force winds that
gusted to 80 miles per hour.
But, Southport-Oak Island and the
surrounding area was spared any sub
was minimal, he said.
About 18 inches of sand left a moon
like scene in the Caswell Beach Road
700 block.
“This is the worst of it, right here,”
commissioner Spake said, pointing to
the area of overwash.
About two feet was cut underneath
the pavement on the south side of the
toad, SR 1100. Spake said he did not
know if'the hurricane damage would
stannai damage as
Dennis made his last
minute turn to the
northeast and ran par
allel to the Cape Fear
coastline. Area muni
ci-palities Monday
reported only down
ed limbs and debris.
Some overwash was
noted along the Oak
Island oeeanfront.
most notably in the
critically eroded 700
block of Caswell
Beach Road.
“We’re in pretty
good shape, we really
were lucky,” South
port city manager
Rob Gandy said at
mid-morning Mon
day. Southport expe
rienced only scattered
power outages during
Category 2
storm was
headed
directly for
Cape Fear
but then
moved
to the east,
away from
shore
speed N, L. Depart
ment of Transpor
tation’s plans to sand
bag and bacjcfill. 1
south of the roadway.'?
Right now that pro
ject is on hold until
turtle nesting season
ends November 15.
Although evacua
tion was ordered and'
Soiiihpoit. Oak Is-'
land and Caswell
Beach mayors all
declared states of
emergency, no public
. safety problems were
repotted during Den- -
nis’ brush with the
coast.
“I would say 60 to
70 percent of the peo
ple evacuated,” said
chief Danny Laugh
ren of the Oak Island
the overnight on- ,
slaught Power was returned to virtual
ly all customers by 8 am. Monday.
At Oak Island, damage assessment
crews sent out at 7 am. had little to
report East Beach Drive saw some
overwash and standing water was pre
sent at intersections along Pelican
' Drive. Structural damage was limited to
missing shingles and vinyl siding.
“In the whole scheme of things, we
dodged the bullet” Oak Island town
manager Jerry Walters said.
At Caswell Beach, commissioner
Bob Spake, who has oversight respon
sibilities for both public works and pub
lic safety, was out early surveying con
ditions. Structural damage in that town
Public Safety Depart
ment. “It was a little surprising. A lot of
people left when we asked for volun
tary evacuation. The evacuation
process went smoothly, without traffic
backup."*
Voluntary evacuation from ‘ Oak
Island was requested at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday as rains began to buffet the area
and winds gusted to 20 miles per hour.
Co-mayors Dot Kelly and Joan'Altman
later declared a state of emergency as
the storm, intensified. The declaration
established a 10 p.m. curfew and ended
sale of alcoholic beverages at that time.
Caswell Beach mayor Joe O’Brien
issued a declaration of a state of emer
See Dennis, page 14
Hurricane Dennis
broke apart the
remains of an 1893
wreck on Oak ,
Island and wiped
out three beach
stairways, but did
little damage over
all along the
strand. The
Southport Baptist
Church steeple
went down early
Monday, probably •
around 3:43 a.m.
when a 69-mile
per-hour gust was ‘
recorded at the
pilots tower.
Photos by
Jim Harper
Town will save
piece of history
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
As hurricanes go, Dennis was not much to study. ,
But, the storm of Sunday and Monday may have made a
lasting contribution to Oak Island’s cultural and historical
life.
When Hurricane Dennis visited its 45-to-60-mile-per
hour winds-On the Oak Island shoreline, it slowly unveiled
more of the aged ship’s hull which has from time to time
poked its way through the town’s western beachface.
Dennis dislodged a huge section of the 132-foot vessel,
believed to be the German brig or three-masted schooner,
and slammed it in two broken sections against the 13th
Place West public beach access and a staircase to an
adjoining cottage.
With these sections of the great sailing ship dislodged,
the Town of Oak Island has early this week taken steps to
preserve her and place her on public display.
Co-mayor Joan Altman said two underwater archeolo
gists with the N. C. Department of Archives and History
met with her and other town officials Tuesday to discuss
relocation of the vessel’s remnants. For the time being,
See History, page 6
Photo by Jim Harper
Galm before the storm
f„im before the storm last Saturday morning, Southport Sunfish sailors massed foXa round
Oal^1clnn^ race in the yacht basin. More on that circumnavigation in the Waterfront- column.
Southport, others face decision
Regional treatment
plant is solid option
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
Municipal officials greeted Brunswick County
eommissionets’ recent decision to facilitate new
regional wastewater treatment ventures warmly.
Commissioners on August 11 gave the go
ahead for establishment of three regional sewer
treatment plants in three phases, including one
already planned for northern Brunswick County.
•' Commissioner^ said the county would serve as
lead agency for proj&ts involving any town or
community which wants to join the new regional
efforts, in the southeast and southwest as well as
the omgoing wastewater treatment project begun
last year in the northern section of the county.
“This is a positive,” Oak Island co-mayor Joan
Altman said. “We have participated in, and have
been very supportive of, the county’s wastewater
and stormwater management committee.”
The regional wastewater management plan
‘We’ve got a plant out
there with a definite shelf
life. We are looking at all
the options.’ .
Rob Gandy
Southport dty manager
built around three central treatment facilities was
a concept developed by an ad hoc committee that
county commissioners forihed in 1997 to address
wastewater and stormwater issues. Former
See Regiei&l, page 8
SAT
scores
rising
By Diana D’Abruzzo
Staff Writer
Brunswick Cotjnty students are
showing continued improvement
on the national Scholastic
Assessment Test, a positive trend
that officials say will continue as
long as schools push students to
higher-level academic courses.
Scores on the college entrance
. exam, released by‘the College
Board on Tuesday, show
Brunswick County closing the
gap between it and the stale. On
. average, Brunswick County stu
dents scored 951 on the combined
roalh and verbal test, while
,■ See SAT scones, page 6 ,