Post (Ida) cards from South Nags Head

        Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. took a long walk down the beach in South Nags Head yesterday from James street at about the 19 milepost to Pelican street about a mile south where they had to turn around because there was no more beach to walk on.  He took pictures along the way which suggest the enormous power unleashed by last week's storm.  Most striking was the disappearance of vast amounts of sand as shown by the "bridges to nowhere" which now hang in mid-air over what were substantial dunes before the storm.  A few small older cottages collapsed when their underpinnings gave way but the biggest problem left in the wake of  this storm is the large number of  fairly substantial buildings which now sit high and dry on the beach, well in front of what remains of the dune line, or in some cases are actually in the surf most of the time.  This is not a new problem by any means but the number of such structures is greater than ever before and presents a knotty problem  for town government.  Should they be torn down or forced to move off the public beach or should they be left in place with the hope that one day the beach will be made whole again, by God or man, and their viability for tax purposes restored?
      Look for more pictures in a day or two from other parts of  South Nags Head even harder hit than this one.

       It will take a phalanx of bulldozers a very long time to restore the sand that vanished over night from under this walkway.

                                                             And this one.

      And this one.  Most troubling is the fact that a whole winter's worth of northeasters is still to come.

           Some escaped total destruction but their days may be numbered.

     Some didn't make it.  It will take superhuman effort to get this one ready for rental again next season.

                                                Another victim.

    The widest beach in South Nags Head---former location of Surfside Drive which the town gave up trying to save a couple of years ago and allowed nature to take its course.  Pretty.

     The "High Dunes" in the background are made of sand bulldozed off the street after the storm.  Better     than no dunes at all maybe..