It was a tense weekend on the North Carolina coast as Hurricane Irene  pounded the coastline.  The worst of the damage was on the northern coast, from Cape Lookout northward, but there was damage along the entire North Carolina coast. Our thoughts are with the residents of eastern North Carolina and the barrier islands that are now grappling with the upheaval the storm brought to their lives, including a major cleanup ahead.

We wanted to update our supporters and colleagues about how the hurricane affected Audubon's system of 19 coastal sanctuaries ranging from the Donal C. O'Brien, Jr. Audubon Sanctuary and Center at Pine Island in northeastern NC to Battery Island in the lower Cape Fear River.

I am pleased to report that North Carolina coastal staff are safe and there was no damage to the coastal office, boats, vehicles, or equipment.  Our preparations began very early Tuesday morning.  We were very well prepared and I am so grateful to the coastal office staff for their tireless and hard work in preparing us for Irene.

There was overwash and erosion on our sanctuaries.  We will work this week to assess the condition of the southern coastal islands.  These islands have no structures or equipment, just great habitat for birds and other wildlife, and overwash often does more good than harm.

Generally, overwash on barrier islands improves nesting habitat for beach-dependent birds.  It creates more open, bare sandy areas that the birds need for nesting. This habitat can also be beneficial to migrating and wintering birds. The nesting season for beach-dependent species was over before the storm hit, so there was no impact to nesting birds.  It's possible we lost some pelican chicks that had not yet fledged from our Beacon Island sanctuary (near Ocracoke Island), but most of the chicks had already fledged when the storm hit.

Beach nesting birds need storms; they depend on storm events such as Irene to maintain the habitats they require.  There may have been some mortality to individual birds (although they do quite well when they are in good condition), but Irene is not likely to have lasting negative impacts.

We will get to the northern coastal islands (the islands in Core and Pamlico Sounds) when we can to assess the impacts there.

I spoke with Mark Buckler a short while ago and he gave me a quick update on conditions at the Pine Island Sanctuary located in Corolla on the northern Outer Banks.  He and Chandler Sawyer are there now and will be conducting a more complete and thorough inspection of the structures, equipment and sanctuary for the rest of the day.  He will provide more information in the next day or so.

I’ve said it before and will again: we have the best staff. It was demonstrated once again as we all prepared for Irene. There will be more updates over the next several days.

-- Walker Golder