hurricane season

Coastal Storms and the Anxious

/ Katie / 27 Comments

Well, after a near miss from Hurricane Erin and a surprisingly and fortunately quiet Atlantic hurricane season, we saw some storm action yesterday and last night. And y’all, I don’t even know what to say.

This was not presented as a big thing. It was neither hurricane nor tropical storm. It did not have a name. But the weather system that rolled through Virginia Beach over the course of yesterday dumped seven inches – SEVEN INCHES – of rain on us. And there was wind. I think the news mentioned gusts of 59 miles per hour.

It was a big thing, as it turns out, and I didn’t even know to be anxious about it.

Don’t worry, though. I got there.

Watching our back patio flood and a small river develop down our driveway, yeah, that wasn’t fun for me. But it was the water creeping up our front yard, closer and closer to our house, that really got me.

It doesn’t look like much in the picture, I know. You could easily say I was overreacting. (I might even agree with you.) But that is solidly three or four feet of water on our fence line, and it just kept rising. I was not in a good mood, and I didn’t sleep well last night.

Thankfully, it’s receded today and things have dried out, and I’m feeling better.

But, again, this was not even a tropical storm. IT WASN’T EVEN A TROPICAL STORM.

Coastal living is something, you guys. I guess I should just file this under “Things I’ll Adjust To.” Right? RIGHT???

Rooting for the Anticlimax

/ Katie / 10 Comments

Well, Hurricane Erin has come and gone. Or, rather, it’s gone and it was never really here to begin with.

I’m not unhappy about that at all. Sometimes, anticlimactic is good.

It’s my first hurricane season as an official resident of Virginia Beach, and though I’m not too worried generally, I admit I was concerned about and disconcerted by all the watches and warnings that accompanied Erin’s not-landfall here. As a lifelong mountain critter – if not in body than certainly in spirit – I find the ocean intimidating. Coastal storms were something that, growing up, we actually talked about pretty often. You know, as in: “Gee, sure glad and grateful we aren’t dealing with that.”

And now here I am, living very close to the big water, right on the coast. It’s a funny old life.

At any rate, I am quite grateful that the most we saw of Erin in our neck of the woods – er, our stretch of the sand – was just a little bit of a breeze, some higher than usual high tides, and rough waves.

The surfers had a great time. Waves in Virginia Beach are normally pretty calm, so these were fun to watch. From a distance.

I know the Outer Banks in North Carolina dealt with more, and I’ve heard Norfolk had some flooding. But as storms go, we got lucky. And I’m hoping we stay lucky through this season. Because as much as I love new experiences, I definitely don’t have “See a hurricane up close and personal” on my 2025 bingo card.