01 September 2019

2018 storm damage in my North Carolina home town

Well, Hurricane Dorian could continue turning to the northeast and pretty much miss the southern coast of North Carolina, where I grew up and where much of my family and a lot of friends live. The winds in the storm shouldn't be as dangerous once it gets that far north, but if the storm stalls high rainfall totals could be a real problem. Again.


This building is called the "curb market" in Morehead City, North Carolina, where I was born and raised. Local market gardeners, farmers, fishermen, and other local people can bring garden produce, fish, shellfish, and baked goods to the market on summertime Saturday mornings and sell them there. I've read that it was the first such market established in N.C., so is the oldest. It started in the early 1930s, but the building dates back to the early 1940s. It's located just a five-minute walk from the house I grew up in and where my mother lived from 1951 until 2005. I took the photo above in 2014, when volunteers (including members of my family — they know who they are!) were preparing the building for its opening in May.


Here's what the curb market building looked like about a year ago after Hurricane Florence roared through the area. There was talk about having it torn down. Finally, the county board of commissioners decided over the winter that it should be saved and repaired. Roof shingles had blown off so that there was a lot of water damage to the interior in addition to the big porch roof's collapse. Tables, other furniture, and appliances were lost. A lot of local people were really happy that the market would be able to continue operating, and it re-opened for the 2019 summer season.


Above is a photo of the curb market during the repairs. I grabbed the two photos above off the Morehead City Curb Market's Facebook pages. I don't think anybody will mind. Damage from the September 2018 hurricane was not limited to the curb market building, of course. Many private homes were damaged as well, and quite a few have not yet been completely repaired, I understand. And now here comes another bad storm.

9 comments:

  1. Let's hope Dorian will spare the Carolinas' coasts. If only it could cross the Atlantic and bring some needed rain to the drought striken departments of France!

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    1. Maybe the remnants of Dorian will continue up the Gulf Stream and come to douse us with warm rain. That would be nice, and it's happened before with earlier hurricanes.

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    2. Dorian is now a Category 5. I do hope your family and friends can do whatever is possible tio stay safe and that they will be spared any damage if they are in Dorian's path,

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    3. I hope and think that Dorian's damaging winds and the overall strength of the cyclone will have diminished by the end of the coming week and its predicted arrival on the Carolina coast. Only time will tell.

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  2. I'm glad that nice curb market was rebuilt.

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    1. Me too. A newspaper article said the repairs cost about $85K. It would be a shame for the all-volunteer curb market in Morehead to disappear. People grow so much good produce, catch so many good-to-eat fish, gather so much good shellfish, and bake so many good cakes, pies, and cookies that all the market customers can enjoy. Not to mention the arts and crafts.

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  3. All this advance notice of storms is something of a mixed blessing. It's good to know, and it lets people take precautions and safety measures, but it also gets everyone all in a swivet of nervousness. Keeping my fingers crossed for Morehead City.

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    1. It's true, but after all my experiences, I'd prefer a pre-announced hurricane to a surprise earthquake.

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    2. Un bon averti en vaut deux!

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