I've received a couple of emails of concern for the lighthouses in Bonnie's path including Cape Lookout, Cape Hatteras and Morris Island. Anyone in that area, we would be greatful to hear some first person accounts after the storm. Let's pray for those in the path and the lighthouses.

John

Here's a link to a satellite image of Bonnie:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/images/hurr-bonnie-19980825-g8ir.gif

I had a girl friend named Bonnie, once. I pray for anyone in her path too. :->


Rgds,
__
/im [anticipating regret for this msg.]

I heard that 5 residents of Bald Head Island took refuge in the lighthouse. They endured winds of 90 mph and came through with no problems.

CNN also said that there were some tornados that touched down in Currituck county, which I assume is where Currituck Light would be.

No idea whether Cape Hatteras survived. There was a crew from the Weather Channel out there last night but this morning they said they were forced to leave the island and head to the mainland because the storm surge is expected to be 9 to 11 feet high.

And this afternoon my boss had a conference call with some people from local phone company out there. They have about a dozen small switching offices out on the barrier islands and were expecting to lose at least seven of them. So they were trying to make arrangements to have the offices rebuilt.

The bad thing right now is that it hit the Carolina coast and then stopped, causing flooding all over the eastern half of the state.

Let's hope that Hatteras doesn't fall into the ocean now that we are close to saving it.

Here's the latest info on the status of Cape Hatteras from Cheryl Roberts at Outer Banks Lighthouse Society:

Hello, Everyone,
The initial report from Bob Reynolds, Superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, came in this morning. Other updates have come from residents of Hatteras Island and volunteers at the lighthouse who have been among the few to be able to get to the lighthouse grounds and witness these reports.

There was soundside flooding that kept park service personnel from reaching the grounds for most of the day. Water was reported on the road in Manns Harbor, south of the lighthouse, and over the causeway, north of Oregon Inlet Bridge, and in Hatteras.

Essentially, the lighthouse was spared any
damage. Absolutely amazing how the storm went around the historic landmark. Hurricane Bonnie did a s-l-o-w shuffle up the eastern coast of North Carolina but caused more inconvenience than the damage of which a large storm of this size is capable.

It is to be hoped any of you in this area fared as well. Southern hospitality is wonderful, but how do we tell Danielle to stay well out in the Atlantic!