The day before Irene hit our area. 36 hours out, forecasts were sobering about the time I took this photo.

Then I headed to nearby Pulpit Harbor to ride it out. Many absentee boat owners took the fast haul onto the public landing. All well and good in most storm situations. And I don't think Irene was worried much for surge here(don't recall exact info).

But if a serious surge was forecast, this may not be the place to be. If you look closely, you can see the average high tide line, about 3' below the landing. On some tides I've seen it over the landing on the inner harbor. That small margin of safety and rising ocean levels will make this new Hurricane tool very helpful for hurricane planning for us.

I live 600 feet from the harbor edge, as the crow flies, but I'm 60 or so feet above. Thank you granite.