Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

So very ready.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Hatteras Ain’t Happening

Hatteras Ain’t Happening

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Well, I gave it the old college try. Hatteras is still closed and it looks like this is not going to happen.

Duck and Corolla and other places north are open, and there are places there and the beaches are unscathed and it will be fine, but I’m not sure my travel companion wants to risk it and I don’t know how much I trust the rental insurance to pay me back what I spent on the Hatteras vacation. If they decided to screw me, which is always a possibility when you deal with “insurance,” then I would be out a large chunk of change AND have to pay for a new rental starting tomorrow.

I need to think about it. Grumble piss moan.

Reader Interactions

95Comments

  2. 2.

    Luthe

    Considering a government body ordered the evacuation of the island because of the hurricane, you should be ok to get your money back. I’m not surprised Hatteras is still closed; there are long stretches of the island that are nothing but oceanside beach + dune on one side and sound-side beach on the other with a two lane road in between. Storm surge from either (or both) side(s) would flood the road. At best, it’s covered in sand and dead fish; at worst it’s damaged and impassable.

  3. 3.

    Doug R

    Looks like TS Florence is going to spend all Monday rolling across West Virginia, you may want to stay and build an ark out of the willow.

  4. 4.

    Waynski

    Err on the side of safety, Cole. I live on the Jersey Shore and was out of power for 12 days after Sandy. I was shivering cold, the elevator was out (8th Fl.), and when you did venture out every manner of skell had crawled out of the woodwork.

  5. 5.

    Mike in NC

    We were supposed to attend a posh wedding on Nantucket next week. Probably won’t happen as there is no power in the neighborhood (200 miles from Raleigh) and no way to know when it will be restored. Most of our neighbors are scattered up and down the east coast in shelters. Nobody around to care for our cats. Is a dilemma.

  6. 6.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I was thinking about you this morning when they said they were only allowing residents onto Hatteras and that police were checking IDs to make sure before letting anyone in.

  8. 8.

    Raoul

    Dunno if this has made it into a BJ thread this morning (dropped at midnight last night, I think):

    Les Wexner renounces Republican Party affiliation after Obama stops in Columbus
    By Suzanne Goldsmith, Senior Editor, Columbus Monthly
    Posted at 12:01 AM

    After former Democratic President Barack Obama made a quiet stop in Columbus, L Brands CEO Leslie H. Wexner, the wealthiest Republican supporter in the state, told a small audience at a Downtown event that he is fed up and has quit the Republican Party.

    “I just decided I’m no longer a Republican,” said L Brands CEO Leslie H. Wexner, speaking during a panel discussion about civility at Miranova’s Ivory Room billed as a “Columbus Partnership and YPO Leadership Summit.”

    “I’m an independent,” he said. “I won’t support this nonsense in the Republican Party. I’ve been a Republican since college, joined the Young Republican Club at Ohio State.”

    …

    (emphasis added). Kay, will this matter??

  11. 11.

    sukabi

    Throw up some torches on your back deck, put on your best vacay clothes and enjoy the surf, lord knows you’re gonna have waves rolling up on you from there once Florence moves thru.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    @Raoul:

    He was a family friend before he got to be so big and famous. It won’t matter to Trump supporters, but there may be quite a reaction from the Jewish community. He’s a strong supporter of Israel.

  16. 16.

    Ohio Mom

    Sorry to hear this, even if I’m not surprised, considering the circumstances.

    You will get to a beach eventually — maybe during the depths of next winter — and it will be all the sweeter for the delay.

    In the mean time. I remain grateful every day that this site comes up.

  18. 18.

    Brendan in NC

    @Mike in NC: Sorry about that for both you and John. My friend has a timeshare in Kill Devil Hills that we’re supposed to go to next weekend…He’s calling on Tuesday to see if it’s still a go…

  19. 19.

    Ken

    @Suzanne:

    Go to Yellowstone or something instead.

    If the supervolcano erupts, that will be another data point for the “God just doesn’t want Cole to have a vacation” theory. (Also for the “Cole is the god of calamaties” theory.)

  20. 20.

    Walker

    For what it is worth, I find travel insurance to be good at paying up. They aren’t mandatory insurance, so it would be bad for word to get out that they do not pay.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    @Marjorie Feiner:
    “Hardly anyone there” sounds like a hallmark of a perfect Cole vacation.

    Fall has arrived in my slice of NorCal–it won’t even crack 80 today. Me like!

  23. 23.

    RepubAnon

    If John dumps a bunch of sand in his back yard, he’ll have a nice beach when the rain hits ;-)

    On a side note – it’s a breach of your insurance policy to place any claims. It’s exclusion 27 in subparagraph 14 of the rider in attachment 82.
    (/snark)

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:
    You sent all the warmth down south didn’t you?
    Still showing to be over 90 for the next week. Better than than the 1000 it was not that long ago.

  27. 27.

    different-church-lady

    All insurance is a parasite. Some forms are parasites with bits of regulation, but all insurance is designed to drain the host as much as possible before killing it. No exceptions.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    @Ruckus:
    We might could have done that–can neither confirm nor deny….

    More even than being rid of the relentless heat is the pall of ground-hugging wildfire smoke (and even ashfall) we endured during July-August. In the murky past I’d be intoning “Thank gawd we’re almost out of fire season” but are we ever, anymore? It generally takes the first big November storm up here, and some years even that doesn’t show.

  32. 32.

    Raoul

    @debbie: Thanks for some local insight! I don’t expect a stampede, but I’d hope that someone that prominent might give cover for some other big-donor Rs in Ohio to pull back publicly.
    I hate that money is such an influencer of all this, but IF the GOP is going to reform, it will have to do so first at the states. And money talks.
    It certainly seems like Trumpism is a disaster for a significant portion of the business class. A slide to corrupt oligarchism isn’t actually good for even most rich people. Dunno if they’ll tumble to that, but people like Wexner could help raise the alarm.

  34. 34.

    Raoul

    @different-church-lady: YMMV, but I’ve found that mutual insurance companies behave pretty well. Not having Wall Street shareholders (or the ghoulish ‘analysts’ who push profits over people) makes a difference in corporate behavior, shockingly.

  35. 35.

    FlyingToaster

    If the island is still closed as of 6 am tomorrow, then you send them the notice along with your claim. If they have a phone number, call them ASAP to make sure on the timeframe.

    When our Feb. vacation to Floridah was blizzarded out (Boston Logan closed at 2am Sunday, JetBlue sent me an e-mail, offering me a Wednesday flight for a Sunday-Friday trip, nope), I called the hotel, called the car rental, and e-mailed the travel insurer with the notice from JetBlue with the “JetBlue is refunding, I need my hotel and car deposits back”. I got the “We will cover your hotel and car deposits” e-mail about 8:15 Monday morning.

    Travel insurers are well aware of Florence. You just have to give them the dox that Hatteras is still closed on the day that the vacay rental starts, but you’re barred from the island.

  36. 36.

    NeenerNeener

    Totally OT: I just went out to pour vinegar on the weeds in my flower beds out front because I’ve got a broken toe and can’t pull/dig them out until this heals a bit more. My balance isn’t good when both of my feet are normal, much less when I’m wearing the orthopedic boot, so getting down to pull weeds right now is not happening.

    I was wondering what the funny smell was out front, and then I saw the dead cat under my dining room window. I can’t tell what killed it; the head is pretty much gone but the body is intact. My house is much too far from the street for this to be road kill. How can I get rid of it without getting too close to it? If I can figure out some way to pick it up can it go in my garbage can?

  39. 39.

    Schlemazel

    @NeenerNeener:
    one positive side to life on the tundra is we always have a snow shovel nearby.

    A million things kill kitties and is the second best reason to not let the roam. Poor kitty

  40. 40.

    PAM Dirac

    The weather in Frederick, MD is looking up. Some actual patches of blue skies and a bit of sun for the first time in what seems like months. We should get only about an inch of rain from Florence remnants on Monday and then maybe even two sunny days in a row! We went by the Frederick Fair and got the wine judging results. I won a first in grapes grown in Frederick county and a second in dry white. Al in all a nice day.

  43. 43.

    Mike E

    @cleek: my favorite NC beach spot…they got the brunt, as did Beaufort, New Bern and Jacksonville…Wilmington kinda got less so but the river flooding will be especially bad

  45. 45.

    HinTN

    @cleek:
    Holden Beach, whereat we are supposed to be arriving today, seems to have survived but is closed until they can get power back and assess the situation. We’ve redirected to the Gulf Coast.

  46. 46.

    J R in WV

    @cleek:

    Emerald Isle is one of the nicer highly populated barrier islands in NC, we’ve spent a week between Xmas and New Year there a couple of times with friends. She’s a priest, and needs a decompression break after high holy days, takes off after Christmas Eve mass.

    It’s pretty calm that time of year, hope it isn’t too badly torn up. May have escaped the worst being as far north of the landfall as they are.

    Sounds like New Bern got slammed pretty hard… a lovely old fashioned town.

  47. 47.

    Juju

    @NeenerNeener: get one of those sturdy black garbage bags and turn it mostly inside out. Put your hands at the bottom of the bag where the bag is the right way out scoop up the kitty remains nand push the bag from the base over the kitty carefully and when the kitty remains are in the bag close and tie and dispose of however you intend to. Don’t ask me how I know about this.

  48. 48.

    cleek

    our little group of friends do a week in Emerald Isle every year, end of Sept / early Oct.. i hope our rental place survived !

  49. 49.

    NeenerNeener

    @trollhattan: Our animal control doesn’t work weekends. I went to HomeAdvisor and got some phone numbers; a guy is supposed to come out within the next hour to get it for what I consider to be a reasonable fee. When my dogs nail a bunny I just pick it up with the poop scooper and toss it over the fence for the foxes, but this is bigger than I want to deal with when I’m wobbly.

    I feel bad for the poor thing. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there last Monday and I have no idea what would have taken it out without dragging it away to eat it. Even the neighborhood crows haven’t found it yet.

  51. 51.

    Kelly

    @cleek: Center supported gas station canopies seem to always blow over in big storms. I’ve occasionally wondered why they aren’t engineered for temporary storm guy lines at the corners.

  53. 53.

    Juju

    @J R in WV: My sister lives in Morehead city and she and her husband are renovating his house in Emerald Isle. He stayed in Morehead City during the storm and is now stuck there. He said the damage in Morehead City is unbelievable. The bridge to Emerald Isle isn’t open yet so he hasn’t had a chance to check on the house they are renovating, but he’s not feeling optimistic. The only thing that keeps him from despair is that the renovations were done to the new hurricane codes. I’ll let you know when I hear anything from my bIl, but from what I’ve seen on the news is it’s really bad in Carteret county.

  56. 56.

    NeenerNeener

    @Capri: There are coyotes in my ‘hood too, which is why I’m surprised to see the majority of the cat under my window. Maybe it was sick and chose my flower bed as a quiet place to die.

  58. 58.

    Juju

    The news I have about Hatteras island is that the Bonner bridge supports need to be inspected before they will let residents on to Hatteras island and the inlet currents are too strong for the divers to dive and inspect. It’s a wait until the divers can dive. I have no idea how long that will take.

  59. 59.

    opiejeanne

    @NeenerNeener: Call animal control. You don’t live in WA, do you? Someone is mutilating cats in one of the counties here, and they haven’t caught this person.

  61. 61.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @Raoul: Wexner doesn’t still have the clout that he had back in the Voinovich administration, when he was able e.g. to get freeway construction projects reprioritized and redesigned to favor his business developments. His power has diminished along with his wealth in the so-called “retail apocalypse”. No one ever *liked* him.

  64. 64.

    Mary G

    Sorry, John.

    My autocorrect suggested Rosie for one of the next words. I thing FSM is trying to tell me that I am addicted Balloon Juice.

  65. 65.

    Luthe

    You know, if Cole is king of calamity, perhaps he should visit the White House while the Fart Cloud is in residence. That would guarantee the meteor hit.

  66. 66.

    Juju

    The Bonner bridge is open for residents and property owners 3:00 pm today. The bridge will be open for visitors tomorrow at 7:00am.

  67. 67.

    germy

    @Raoul:

    “I’m an independent,” he said. “I won’t support this nonsense in the Republican Party. I’ve been a Republican since college, joined the Young Republican Club at Ohio State.”

    I’ve seen this game before. “I’m an independent because I’m embarrassed to call myself a republican, but I’m still conservative and I’ll still vote for republicans.”

  68. 68.

    shelley

    @PAM Dirac:

    The weather in Frederick, MD is looking up.

    Hey, Im a neighbor, Im in Gwynn Oak. Youre right, the weather is getting a little bit better. Its been the near-rain-forest level of humidity thats been dragging me out.

  71. 71.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: speaking of “independents”

    Consultants sue nonpartisan group No Labels
    Strategists say Clinton veteran Mark Penn now “calling the shots” on $50 million election push
    By David Weigel
    September 14 at 8:05 PM
    The nonpartisan political group No Labels, along with a number of affiliated super PACs, is facing a lawsuit from contractors who say they were stiffed for millions of dollars of work in the 2018 cycle, let go in favor of political strategists with ties to the group’s president, Nancy Jacobson — and her husband, Mark Penn.

    Those fuckers have $50 million, and they’re using it to give money to Mark Fucking Penn. The article is light on their “project”, but they’ll fuck things up as best they can, no doubt.

  73. 73.

    Quinerly

    @cleek: Google the News and Observer. It ran a big piece today on EI. Lots of trees down on Bogue Banks. My place at Pine Knoll Shores survived. Horrendous flooding on the Bogue Sound side of Salter Path. The various towns’ FB sites have put up lots of pics and videos. Trace Cooper, mayor of AB, rode around for hrs posting stuff in real time late yesterday and today.

  76. 76.

    Mnemosyne

    @shelley:

    From what I could gather from the rest of the reporter’s Twitter feed, his father is okay and the house did not flood, but Mr. Simmons’ dad did not want to leave the house. The floodwaters have stopped rising, which is why Mr. Simmons was willing to leave his dad, but obviously he’s still worried.

  77. 77.

    Quinerly

    @Mike E: The river flooding is terrible even 100 miles in. Belhaven had houses that had stood over 100 I years floating on their sides. Oriental is devasted, as is New Bern. Little Washington is flooded too. All electric went out at Camp Lejeune yesterday. Unheard of. They were operating on generators. Big piece in N&O on EI.

  78. 78.

    Quinerly

    @J R in WV: technically EI is a town on the island of Bogue Banks. I’m so old I remember the ferry… There was no Cameron Langston Bridge until the 1970’s. We had a place at Salter Path in the 1960’s and used to come on the island from that end. The ferry was a big deal to a 5 year old. ?

  80. 80.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @shelley: His father refused to leave.

    Everyone: If you don’t absolutely have to come to NC, stay away. I just saw the river cresting predictions. They’re trying to evacuate large parts of Fayetteville/Cumberland County by 3 pm tomorrow. (Everything within a mile of the Cape Fear and Little Rivers.) Part of I-95 is already closed due to flooding, and with the rivers predicted to crest anywhere from 10-25′ above flood stage, there will be more. Predictions are as much as four feet higher than for Matthew.

  81. 81.

    Quinerly

    @Juju: all the towns are putting up pics on their FB sites. It’s bad, but could have been so much worse. As my dad would say, “the ocean didn’t meet the sound.”

  82. 82.

    Luthe

    Per various NC local papers, Hatteras Island has been cleared for visitors starting 3pm tomorrow. I would call your rental company and see what they say.

  85. 85.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @James E Powell: Short answer, no. The money is the money, but he has no “personal brand” or credibility. Basically Les Wexner as a businessman is a washed-up has-been who is still sitting on a pile of cash. He bought huge tracts of undeveloped land very cheaply 50-60 years ago and sat on them until they could be leased at immense markup. He made his fortune that way, which I think peaked at something in the very low 11 figures. His retail ventures were at one time very prominent and exciting, but are now on the way down and probably amounted to a net loss for him from a lifetime perspective. He was briefly a commandingly major employer in the Columbus area and liked being able to throw that weight around. If he were to start giving money to Democrats it would be because he wanted something from them, but he hasn’t really got anything left to want. He hasn’t been much heard from for a lot of years — if you had asked me, I wouldn’t have been perfectly certain that he was still alive.

  86. 86.

    Juju

    @Quinerly: she’s inland here with us, and is fine. Her house in Morehead had some minor damage, but she and her husband consider themselves fortunate it was minor.

    I’m glad to hear your home in Emerald Isle is ok.

  88. 88.

    StringOnAStick

    Anyone care to speculate that the comment from Manafort’s lawyer about “making sure his family is safe” might be code for “in witness protection now”? I wonder if that includes the daughter who just changed her name to her mother’s maiden name in order to get the Manafort off herself.

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    @cleek:
    The stuff that is down is rather easily replaceable if not all that cheap. The building looks in good shape and that’s the expensive part. The gas pumps being down might mean that water may have been able to get into the gas tanks, which would be expensive. I believe that most gas stations have one way valves which keeps both fire and water from getting to the tanks, at least for a while.

  93. 93.

    Schlemazel

    Staying put seemed like a good idea to Jeanette Rivera until Hurricane Florence rumbled ashore on Friday.

    With wind whipping and water rapidly rising around her house in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, Rivera was cursing herself for not leaving when she had the chance — and waiting to be rescued.

    “I’m really upset at myself for staying,” Rivera, 47, told NBC News. “I just want to get out of here.”

  94. 94.

    rekoob

    For what it’s worth, Interstate 95 South in Virginia is displaying warnings all along the route from DC to Richmond stating that the Interstate is closed in North Carolina. Avoid travel and use extreme caution. I’d say that means don’t risk it, especially since others have indicated that the road’s been flooded.

  95. 95.

    Betsy

    @Quinerly: Greetings from LW. All that damage in the towns you mention was from storm surge, pretty much, rather than riverine flooding (rainfall). The east winds pushed so much water from the sounds onto those towns. New Bern was closest tothe longest steady dose of hurricane-force winds from the east — hence worst storm surge of all. Towns this far east are mostly immune from riverine flooding. I blame G W Bush for it all

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