The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1959-03-20

and 1856 many property owners
suddenly became concerned. A
number of these, as irony would
have it, were the very same peo-
pie who had tried to block the ero-
sion control project in the 1905,
or had built their cottages right
at the edge of the ocean, against
the advice of local residents.
In April, 1856, a Dare County
Storm Rehabilitation Committee
was formed. This committee made
a careful survey of all beach areas
in the county, and consulted with
State and Federal officials, to de-
termine whether the Dare Coast
really qualified as a disaster area.
This committee, of which I hap
pened to be chairman, concluded
that the erosion caused by success
sive hurricanes and northeasters,
and the potential damage if anoth-
er storm should strike before
something was done, was serious
enough to qualify for Federal dis
aster assistance.
Applications for this aid were
filed by the County Commission
ers, and for a period of approx
mately two years Commissioner
Lawrence Swain, who had been
designated by the Board as it's
spokesman, worked steadily on the
disaster program, frequently call
ing on the Storm Rehabilitation
Committee for advice and assist
ance.
These Civil Defense funds could
be spent only for temporary re-
pairs, and in Dare County two
types of work qualified. On the
beachfront a pile of sand could be
pushed up by bulldozers, and a
small brush fence constructed; but
no grass could be planted with the
Federal money, and no bulkheads,
jetties, groins or other permanent
structures could be erected. In the
back areas funds could be spent
for digging out bitches which had
been filled up by the storms of
1866 and 1856 and for spraying
mosquitoes which We're breeding
in these impounded waters. AS a
result of these projects several
miles of dunes and fences were
erected along the oceanfront, and
numerous bitches were dug in the
soundside areas.
This winter, after was desig-
mated by the Board of Commits
sioners to prepare an application
for a new project, State engineers
made another survey, and largely
on the basis of their recommends
tons I filed an application for
the county. But when Federal Civil
Defense officials reviewed the APP
Iplication they eliminated much of
what the State engineers had rec
commended, and I was required to
file second application.
| The State engineers had recon-
mended clearing again a number
of the bitches which had been dug
out couple Of years ago, and this
work was included in the original
application. The only one the Fed
leral officials would approve, how
ever, was the removal of debris
from the main ditch in Hatteras
village, at cost of $3.50, and this
was included in the second apph-
cation.
AS for erosion control work,
here is the pertinent extract from
the second application, which was
dated January "a, 1859:
"Many (of the Civil Defense
sand dunes and fences) have re-
manned intact, and particularly
where heavier brush fences were
added and grasses were planted by
local individuals or agencies, a
well-stabilized dune has been
built up.
"Some few of the dunes and
fences, installed in areas where
the beach was extremely narrow
or the bank extremely steep, were
washed out soon after their erec-
ton, and in the opinion of the ap-
plicants the replacement of dunes
or fences in such areas would be a
waste of public funds.
ain other instances, however,
the dunes and fences remained in
tact until destroyed or damaged
by the winds and tides accompany
ing Hurricane Helene and the Sc
we're northeast storms of October