U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2009-3025

March 2009

Coastal Change During Hurricane Isabel 2003

Printed on recycled paper

associated with the opening of a new breach about 

500 m wide that divided into three separate channels 

that completely severed the island southwest of Cape 

Hatteras. The main breach, and a smaller one several 

kilometers to the south (not shown), occurred at minima in both island elevation and island width.

On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel made 

landfall on the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina. At the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Field 

Research Facility in Duck, 125 km north of where 

the eyewall cut across Hatteras Island, the Category 2 

storm generated record conditions for the 27 years of 

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.

As part of a program to document and better understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation’s 

coasts to extreme storms, the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS), in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), surveyed the 

impact zone of Hurricane Isabel. Methods included 

pre- and post-storm photography, videography, and 

lidar. 

Hurricane Isabel caused extensive erosion and 

overwash along the Outer Banks near Cape Hatteras, including the destruction of houses, the erosion 

of protective sand dunes, and the creation of island 

breaches. The storm eroded beaches and dunes in 

Frisco and Hatteras Village, southwest of the Cape. 

Overwash deposits covered roads and filled homes 

with sand. The most extensive beach changes were 

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. 

Pamlico Sound

Atlantic Ocean

20 10 0 20

Kilometers

Path of Isabel

North

Carolina

Figure 4

Figure 3

Figures 2 & 5

Cape

 Hatteras

Frisco

Hatteras

Village Area

Shown

Figure 1. Map showing the track of Hurricane Isabel across the 

North Carolina coast.

September 21, 2003 - Post-Isabel
Project Contact: Asbury (Abby) Sallenger, USGS asallenger@usgs.gov 727-803-8747 x 3015

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/

September 08, 1999 - Pre-Isabel September 08, 1999 - Pre-Isabel

September 21, 2003 - Post-Isabel September 21, 2003- Post-Isabel

dunes completely removed

September 16, 2003 September 21, 2003 September 21, 2003

low dune

beach

North

high dune

breach

Frisco, NC Frisco, NC

limit of

data

limit of

data

9.0

-1.0

buildings

meters

Figure 5. Hatteras Island, North Carolina. Analyses of NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) data from the island 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.

Figure 3. Frisco, North Carolina. USGS aerial photography taken 

before and after the landfall of Hurricane Isabel. Storm surge and 

waves overwashed the dunes located seaward of the first row of 

houses and deposited that sand across the island. (Arrows in all 

images point to the same features.) 

Figure 4. Hatteras Village, North Carolina. USGS aerial photography taken before and after the landfall of Hurricane Isabel. Storm 

surge and waves destroyed and inundated the dunes protecting 

the hotels. The water washed the buildings from their foundations 

and covered roads with sand. (Arrows in all images point to the 

same features.)