We visited Assateague Island Virginia after a big storm had damaged the island. Seeing the tremendous amounts of sand that had been re-located by the winds and flooding was shocking. The one photo shells a tree where visitors have hung up sea shells that were all over the beach. The other image shows trees that were buried in sand except for the tops.
The damage to the island came from an unexpectedly powerful noreaster, nicked named “NOR IDA”. On the southern end of Assateague Island, the dunes, beach, parking lots and other infrastructure were obliterated during the 3 day event. The wildlife refuge and local community have begun meetings to consider options for the 2010 tourist season.
Assateague Island is a pristine area along the coast of Virginia. The Virginia portion of the island is occupied by Assateague National Seashore and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Assateague Island is also known for it’s fishing, boating, beaches and world famous wild ponies.
The ponies are the property of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company whose famous “saltwater cowboys” round up the horses annually during the Pony Penning on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July. Started in the early 1920′s as a fundraising event, it now also serves to keep the population of the horses down to the 150 adult animals that the Fish and Wildlife Service deems appropriate to protect the island habitat from overgrazing. Theponies are driven across a narrow part of the Assateague Channel at slack tide on Wednesday, corraled and auctioned off on Thursday. The “pony swim” is the highlight of the summer season.
Further south in Virginia, part of the Lynnhaven fishing Pier was destroyed by the storm. To the south, in Sandbridge, another pier had a near disaster related to this powerful storm. The La Princessa (a triple-deck, 580-foot long barge) left San Juan on 11/6 at 12:12 AM pulled by the tug Sentry en route to Pennsauken, NJ for a regularly scheduled liner cargo service. Approximately 12-14 hours from destination and 30 miles from the sea buoy, the tug/barge encountered heavy seas that were remnants of Tropical Storm Ida. The two towlines used to pull the barge, broke in heavy weather and the barge was carried approximately 100 miles southwest where it came to rest parallel on Sand Bridge Beach in Virginia, just short of destroying the Fishing Pier. The barge was freed a few days later without damaging the pier.
The one photo shows a tree where visitors have hung up sea shells that were all over the beach.
The other image shows trees that were buried in sand except for the tops.
Conch-Tree
Sand
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