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Coastal Change During Hurricane Isabel 2003

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Coastal Change During Hurricane Isabel 2003 Coastal Change During Hurricane Isabel 2003 On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel made associated with the opening of a new breach about landfall on the northern Outer Banks of North Car- 500 m wide that divided into three separate channels olina. At the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Field that completely severed the island southwest of Cape Research Facility in Duck, 125 km north of where Hatteras. The main breach, and a smaller one several the eyewall cut across Hatteras Island, the Category 2 kilometers to the south (not shown), occurred at min- storm generated record conditions for the 27 years of ima in both island elevation and island width. monitoring. The storm produced an 8.1 m high wave measured at a waverider buoy in 20 m of water and a 1.5 m storm surge. Figures 2 & 5 Frisco As part of a program to document and better under- North Carolina Hatteras stand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation’s Area Village Cape coasts to extreme storms, the U.S. Geological Survey Shown Figure 3 Hatteras (USGS), in collaboration with the National Aeronau- Figure 4 tics and Space Administration (NASA), surveyed the impact zone of Hurricane Isabel. Methods included pre- and post-storm photography, videography, and Pamlico Sound lidar. Hurricane Isabel caused extensive erosion and overwash along the Outer Banks near Cape Hat- Atlantic Ocean teras, including the destruction of houses, the erosion of protective sand dunes, and the creation of island Kilometers breaches. The storm eroded beaches and dunes in Path of Isabel 20 10 0 20 Frisco and Hatteras Village, southwest of the Cape. Overwash deposits covered roads and filled homes Figure 1. Map showing the track of Hurricane Isabel across the with sand. The most extensive beach changes were North Carolina coast. September 21, 2003 - Post-Isabel Figure 2. Hurricane Isabel opened a breach in the island southwest of Cape Hatteras. Combined waves and storm surge attacked the island where the dunes were lowest and the island was narrowest. U.S. Department of the Interior Fact Sheet 2009-3025 U.S. Geological Survey Printed on recycled paper March 2009 September 08, 1999 - Pre-Isabel September 08, 1999 - Pre-Isabel September 21, 2003 - Post-Isabel September 21, 2003- Post-Isabel dunes completely removed Figure 3. Frisco, North Carolina. USGS aerial photography taken Figure 4. Hatteras Village, North Carolina. USGS aerial photogra- before and after the landfall of Hurricane Isabel. Storm surge and phy taken before and after the landfall of Hurricane Isabel. Storm waves overwashed the dunes located seaward of the first row of surge and waves destroyed and inundated the dunes protecting houses and deposited that sand across the island. (Arrows in all the hotels. The water washed the buildings from their foundations images point to the same features.) and covered roads with sand. (Arrows in all images point to the same features.) September 16, 2003 September 21, 2003 September 21, 2003 Frisco, NC Frisco, NC limit of limit of data data high dune low dune breach 9.0 beach buildings meters North -1.0 Figure 5. Hatteras Island, North Carolina. Analyses of NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) data from the is- land show extensive beach changes and dune erosion, as well as the destruction of infrastructure and buildings. Upper right and center: Lidar images show high-resolution topography of a portion of the coast measured with NASA’s EAARL before and after Hurricane Isabel. The different colors indicate different elevations, where in the warmer colors represent higher elevations (see scale). Right: An oblique photograph taken by USGS on the same day as the post-storm lidar survey. Author: Karen L. M. Morgan, USGS [email protected] 727-803-8747 x 3037 Project Contact: Asbury (Abby) Sallenger, USGS [email protected] 727-803-8747 x 3015 http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/.
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