AP Explains: Why North Carolina is vulnerable to hurricanes

FILE - In this May 15, 2007, file photo, summer vacation and rental properties sit vulnerable beside the ocean, in Buxton N.C. Hurricane Florence has become a reminder of how vulnerable North Carolina's coast is. Experts said Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, that the storm could be the state's most destructive on record. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

Tropical Weather Barrier Islands

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AP Explains: Why North Carolina is vulnerable to hurricanes

Posted Wednesday, September 12, 2018 1:52 am

Tropical Weather Barrier Islands

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FILE-In this Oct. 15, 1954 file photo, Hurricane Hazel destruction is seen in Morehead City, N.C. The last time the midsection of the East Coast stared down a hurricane like Florence, Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House and Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were newlyweds. Florence could inflict the hardest hurricane punch the Carolinas have seen in more than 60 years, with rain and wind of more than 130 mph (209 kph). (AP Photo/Clifton Guthrie, File)

Tropical Storms Carolinas

FILE - In this May 10, 2015, file photo, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is seen from the porch of the light keepers house in Buxton, N.C. Hurricane Florence has become a reminder of how vulnerable North Carolina's coast is. Experts said Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, that the storm could be the state's most destructive on record. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Tropical Weather Barrier Islands

FILE - This 2003, file photo, shows the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the village of Buxton, N.C. Hurricane Florence has become a reminder of how vulnerable North Carolina's coast is. Experts said Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, that the storm could be the state's most destructive on record. (AP Photo/Joshua Corsa, File)

Tropical Weather Barrier Islands

AP Explains: Why North Carolina is vulnerable to hurricanes

by By BEN FINLEY , Associated Press - 12 September 2018 00:52-04:00

The immense power of Hurricane Florence could be especially damaging to North Carolina's vulnerable coast, where vast amounts of new development now stand on the shifting sands of barrier islands amid the rising waters of climate change.

Experts said Tuesday that the combination of unwise development and climate change could make the storm North Carolina's most destructive on record.

The state's low-lying Outer Banks and other barrier islands are particularly vulnerable to being washed over from both sides by storm surges, and climate change is worsening the situation. Warmer waters increase the size and intensity of hurricanes. As sea levels rise, shorelines become more vulnerable.

And while barriers islands typically shift slowly toward the mainland, development is artificially holding them in place, making them more vulnerable.