The Long Point cabins at Cape Lookout National Seashore are in danger of being destroyed by the surf if not moved. An extreme tide in December 2019 washed under one duplex cabin and cut a small scarp (cliff) in the sand in front of another duplex cabin./NPS file
Barrier islands are not stationary objects, but move over time as the ocean pushes them around. At Cape Lookout National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, that means some rustic cabins either need to be moved or will be claimed by the Atlantic.
According to Superintendent Jeff West, the Long Point cabins are in danger of being swept away by the waves. Twenty years ago there was more than 300 feet of beach and dunes between the cabins and high tide. Today, however, there is 48 feet of flat sand.
Extreme tides wash under the cabins, and through the camp. Last September, Hurricane Dorian destroyed almost every septic system, the water treatment building that serviced the cabins, along with the power building, and hundreds of feet of water and electrical lines, besides doing structural damage to several of the cabins. The Park Service is not looking to do away with the cabins, said the superintendent, but is looking at a better place to locate them that might last and is better protected. The process will likely take two years.
Comments
Get them out of there...do like Cape Cod did several years ago and make the hard call to demolish and move on!
Those cabins should never been built in such a constantly changing landscape. When I was stationed there from 1973 to 1977, we removed all the squatter snacks but the two concession camps were allowed to continue to operate under permits. Those apparently became part of the camps that were built by the NPS. I am amazed that the camps have survived the hurricanes and the rise in sealevel. The funding for relocating them to a more stable environment should be redirected to something that is not such a gamble.