Island Heroes

Neil Rodgers and his wife Renee would not want me to call them Island Heroes or any such thing. They're just good old regular folks who help in the middle of hurricanes.

You see, when the rest of us "head for the hills" when a hurricane comes, people like Neil and Renee are there helping people, clearing trees from important evacuation routes, rescuing people stranded, and then when the storm has passed, they come out and help us mainlanders rescue and rebuild our vacation homes.

Neil is a member and past assistant chief of the Hampstead Fire Department. The volunteer fire department that is. And Renee is his right hand man...or woman I should say.

I first met Renee several years ago when she was working for Century21 Action Topsail. A storm had come through in the off season and blown a window out of one of my places. She had driven by, seen the window, called me, and then went and taped plastic over the window until it could be repaired. She helped me many more times.

Neil has a maintenance company called Hampstead Maintenance. (Call them at 910-200-1120). They do great work for me, but it is what they do beyond that that makes them my heroes. They have gone over late at night to help tenants get in when they were locked out. A few weeks ago, my regular cleaning lady had gone on vacation and had a substitute lined up. I got a call at 5pm from newly arriving tenants who said the house hadn't been cleaned. I couldn't find the substitute, so at 7 pm on a Saturday night, Renee went over and cleaned my beach house.

Another time when I was living in Surf City in the spring to get a family member some needed help, Neil and Renee called many times to see if we needed anything.

Many times, Neil has dropped what he was doing to help me or a tenant in a pinch.

Neil and Renee - and many other year round residents - would give you the shirt off your back.

These are the people - along with the others, police, firemen, cleaning ladies, utility workers, that are the heros of Topsail Island.

The picture above, of Neil and a large flounder he caught in the sound, came from his kid.

Obviously very proud of dad.

UPDATE 9/8/08 Changed chief to assistant chief in story above and removed link to child's web site. UPDATE 9/9/08 Changed Surf City Fire Dept to Hampstead Fire Dept.

We Made it...Hanna Passes

We made it. Personal reports from Topsail say that the eye of Hanna passed about 6 am. There was not a lot of rain and winds only topped at 45 mph.

One guest reported that Amazing Grace and A Breath of Fresh Aire shook all night (which it is supposed to do. It is on pilings. The swaying dissipates the energy from the storm)

A Breath of Fresh Aire sufferred a lost window and some shingles. Amazing Grace held up great and haven't heard about Seas the Day yet.

A friend from the Surf City Fire Department reported that they made runs all night but primarily to remove fallen trees from roads.

Thank God.

Hanna Advisory as of 5 am

000
WTNT33 KNHC 060854
TCPAT3
BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM HANNA ADVISORY NUMBER 38
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL082008
500 AM EDT SAT SEP 06 2008

...HANNA MOVES ASHORE AS A TROPICAL STORM...

AT 500 AM EDT...0900 UTC...THE HURRICANE WATCH ALONG THE COASTS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA AND NORTH CAROLINA IS DISCONTINUED...AND THE
TROPICAL STORM WARNING FROM THE SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTHWARD IS DISCONTINUED.

AT 500 AM EDT...THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS EXTENDED NORTHWARD TO
MERRIMACK RIVER MASSACHUSETTS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW IN
EFFECT FROM NORTH OF SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SOUTH CAROLINA TO MERRIMACK
RIVER MASSACHUSETTS...INCLUDING PAMLICO AND ALBEMARLE SOUNDS...ALL
OF CHESAPEAKE BAY...THE TIDAL POTOMAC...WASHINGTON D.C...DELAWARE
BAY...NEW YORK HARBOR...LONG ISLAND SOUND...BLOCK ISLAND...MARTHA'S
VINEYARD AND NANTUCKET. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT
TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA
WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 500 AM EDT...0900Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM HANNA WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 34.4 NORTH...LONGITUDE 78.3 WEST OR ABOUT 150
MILES...240 KM...NORTHEAST OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA AND ABOUT 25
MILES... 45 KM...WEST-NORTHWEST OF WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA.

HANNA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 22 MPH...35 KM/HR.
A GRADUAL TURN TO THE NORTHEAST WITH AN INCREASE IN FORWARD
SPEED IS EXPECTED TODAY AND TOMORROW. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE
CENTER OF HANNA WILL MOVE ACROSS EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA THIS
MORNING...ALONG THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT....
AND ALONG THE COAST OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES AND
SOUTHEASTERN CANADA ON SUNDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 60 MPH...95
KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. LITTLE CHANGE IN STRENGTH IS FORECAST
DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. HANNA IS EXPECTED TO LOSE TROPICAL
CHARACTERISTICS BY LATE ON SUNDAY.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 200 MILES...325 KM
FROM THE CENTER.

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE BASED ON SURFACE OBSERVATIONS AND
RECENT AIRCRAFT RECONNAISSANCE DATA IS 983 MB...29.03 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING ALONG THE ATLANTIC COASTS OF SOUTH
CAROLINA AND NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD GRADUALLY SUBSIDE TODAY. STORM
SURGE FLOODING OF 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS IS EXPECTED
TODAY IN ALBEMARLE AND PAMLICO SOUNDS AND IN CHESAPEAKE BAY...WHICH
WILL SUBSIDE TONIGHT AFTER HANNA QUICKLY PASSES TO THE NORTHEAST.

HANNA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES
FROM CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH EASTERN PORTIONS
OF THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES...SOUTHERN NEW YORK...AND INTO SOUTHERN
NEW ENGLAND...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 10 INCHES POSSIBLE.
THESE RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING ACROSS THESE
REGIONS.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE TODAY OVER EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA...EASTERN VIRGINIA...AND SOUTHERN MARYLAND.

REPEATING THE 500 AM EDT POSITION...34.4 N...78.3 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 22 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...60
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...983 MB.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 800 AM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 1100
AM EDT.

$$
FORECASTER KNABB

Web Cam View of Pier

Here's what the weather at the Surf City Pier looks like right now: link to web cam

Here is a web cam view of the Blockcade Runner hotel

North Topsail Beach Plans

Here is the message from Lydia King for the Town of North Topsail Beach.

More Blog on Hanna

Good visuals of the storm at here and updated news of the storm here.

No Evacuation Planned at this Time 9/04 10:13 p.m.

Evacuation is not being considered at this time, and we are still hopeful that mandatory evacuation will not be necessary. Check the Town of Surf City link here.

Message from Surf City about Hurricane

Here is a message from Zander Guy, Mayor of Surf City:

Hello, this is Mayor Zander Guy with an important message from the Town of Surf City.
It appears that Hurricane Hanna will be making landfall in our area as a category 1 storm which can produce winds upward of 80 miles per hour. We are expecting wind and storm bands to begin affecting Topsail Island early Friday afternoon. We are expecting the winds and rain to continue to build throughout Friday during the afternoon and into the night. Projections indicate that the strongest part of Hurricane Hanna should be over Surf City and Topsail Island around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Hanna is projected to move quickly north east once it makes landfall and should move past Surf City by noon on Saturday.

Please remember to remove your deck furniture, garbage cans, and any other items that may become dangerous and blown during Hurricane winds.

We will try to keep an update on the Town’s Web site and keep staff available to answer the phones, as long as we have internet service and the power and phones remain up.

Hurricane Hanna and Ike

Hurricane Hanna has now headed north and is forecasted to pass over Topsail Island.  Here is Hanna's track.

Surf City Mayor Zander Guy called all homeowners (via automatic messaging) and told me that Hanna would cross the island about 2 am Saturday morning (9/6/08).

What should you do?  If you are staying there and were going to leave Saturday morning anyway, then think about leaving Friday night.  If you're coming in on Saturday, then first make sure the storm has passed, then call the homeowner you are renting from to see if the house and island are okay for you to come down.  If there is no significant damage, then come on down.  In fact, there is often very beautiful weather after a hurricane passes.