Lou’s Views
“Unofficial” Minutes & Comments
BOC’s Regular Meeting
The Board of Commissioners’ Regular Meeting scheduled for October 20th was rescheduled to October 27th
Therefore, the 10 – Town Meeting newsletter post
will be updated on Sunday, November 1st
Lou’s Views
“Unofficial” Minutes & Comments
BOC’s Special Meeting 09/04/26
Board of Commissioners’ Agenda Packet » click here
Audio Recording » click here
1. McGill Presentation – Discussion and Possible Action
Welcome & Context Setting (10 mins)
Discovery & Site Analysis (30 mins)
Q&A session: Clarifying questions from participants regarding site.
A Unified Vision: Design Concepts & Connections (30 Minutes)
Present Concepts for review
Commissioner Comments – Building Consensus (1 Hour)
Final Comments and Next Steps
Slide Presentation » click here
Update –
The session was conducted as an interactive workshop with the Board of Commissioners. The group briefly reviewed the input gathered from work completed to date. Four key focus areas were identified: Under-Bridge Area, Block Q Green Space, Brunswick Avenue Corridor, and Jordan Boulevard. The next step is to develop a final concept plan and master planning document that establish a unified vision and a connected framework for these areas.
Once again, the speaker could not be heard clearly because the microphone was not used consistently.
BOC’s Special Meeting 09/15/26
Board of Commissioners’ Agenda Packet » click here
Audio Recording » click here
1. Interviews for Vacancies on Audit Committee
BOC’s Regular Meeting 09/15/26
Board of Commissioners’ Agenda Packet » click here
Audio Recording » click here
1. Consent Agenda Items
a) Police Report – Chief Barger
Agenda Packet – pages 6 – 12
Police Report » click here
b) Inspections Department Report – Inspections Director Evans
Agenda Packet – pages 13 – 16
Inspections Report » click here
c) Finance Department Report – Finance Officer McRainey
Agenda Packet – pages 17 – 22
Finance Report » click here
d) Public Works Department Report – Public Works Director Benton
Agenda Packet – pages 23 – 24
Public Works Report » click here
The Board approved the consent agenda items
2. Update Regarding Federal Priorities – Mike McIntyre, Ward and Smith and the Ferguson Group (Assistant Town Manager Ferguson)
Agenda Packet – page 25
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Update from Mike Mcintrye (Ward and Smith) and the Ferguson Group regarding federal priorities.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
Each year Ward and Smith provides the board with an update regarding federal advocacy and the Town’s current federal priorities. Mike McIntyre and representatives from the Ferguson Group will give the board an overview of what is occurring at the federal level regarding policy and funding.
Previously reported – May 2026
Our lobbyist Mike McIntyre with Ward & Smith in conjunction with the Ferguson Group represents the town in advocacy matters at the federal level. The monthly retainer minimal fee will remain at $9,725 per month, plus out-of-pocket expenses that typically total approximately $2,000 per month for The Ferguson Group. The agreement with Ward and Smith is for an annual total estimated advocacy cost of $140,700.
Update –
Our lobbyist Mike McIntyre provided a federal advocacy update, focusing on policy and funding. The most significant talking point is the proposed FEMA disaster response and recovery reforms that may affect the Town.
3. Update and Possible Action on Path Forward for Planned Canal Dredging Project for 2026 – Assistant Town Manager Ferguson
. a. Resolution 26-10, Water Resources Development Grant
Agenda Packet – pages 26 – 41
Resolution 26-10 » click here
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Update regarding the planned canal dredging project for 2026 and consideration and possible action on paths forward.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The Town Manager has been expressing for several months that we are working with the Corps regarding a cost to utilize DA292 for dredge spoil disposal. This presentation will highlight paths forward and discuss options.
Update –
Staff has been working behind the scenes on several issues and has identified three potential paths to move the canal dredging project forward. Christy stated that the Town needs to address the grant now and enter the queue to meet the November environmental window. Dredging and spoil-area costs have increased significantly, and several steps must still be completed for dredging to occur this year. Resolution 26-10 requests $1,878,750 in financial assistance from the state, representing 75% of the project construction cost. A motion was made to submit the grant and approve a revised version of Resolution 26-10.
A decision was made – Approved unanimously
4. Discussion and Possible Selection of Audit Committee Members – Town Clerk Finnell
Agenda Packet – pages 42 – 45
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and Possible Selection of Members to Serve on the Audit Committee.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
We received two applications for the Audit Committee. Interviews are scheduled to be conducted prior to the meeting. Rich Masi will be in attendance. Mark Francis is unable to attend the meeting but provided supplemental information to his application for the Board’s review. Per Town ordinance. the committee should be comprised of three to four regular members, plus one alternate. There are currently two members on the committee. Ballots will be provided or the Board can elect to vote via another method.
Vacant Regular Member
Vacant Regular Member
Vacant Alternate Member
Previously reported – August 2026
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
Section 30.27 of the Code of Ordinance requires the Audit Committee to be comprised of a minimum of three full members. The applicant selected at the July meeting did not accept the appointment so currently there are only two members serving on the committee . There are no remaining applicants from the last round of interviews the Board conducted . If the Board agrees, staff can solicit interest from the community and schedule a special meeting for September 15th at 4:45 p.m. to interview applicants.
§ 30.27 AUDIT COMMITTEE.
(A) Creation, name and number of members. There is hereby established an Audit Committee which shall be comprised of not less than three or more than four residents or property owners of the town as full members , plus one alternate.
There are two vacancies on the Audit Committee: one regular member seat and one alternate member seat. The consensus of the Board was to proceed with filling the vacancies. Interviews will be scheduled at a Special Meeting on September 15th prior to the BOC’s Regular Meeting.
THB Newsletter (08/21/26)
Volunteers Needed
The Town’s Audit Committee has vacancies and is looking for volunteers. Click here to view information on the committee. Interviews for the committee will be held on Tuesday, September 15th at 4:45 p.m. Click here to access an application if you are interested in applying to serve. Completed applications can be emailed to heather@hbtownhall.com or dropped off at Town Hall prior to September 4th.
Update –
A motion was made to approve both Rich Masi and Mark Francis as Regular Members to the Audit Committee.
A decision was made – Approved unanimously
5. Discussion and Possible Action on Parking Revenue – Town Manager Chadwick
Agenda Packet – page 46
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and Possible Action on Parking Revenue
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The Board discussed altering the parking schedules for November through January 2nd during the budget process. If after discussion the Board would like to move forward with any changes, an amended contract with Otto Connect and a resolution to update the fee schedule will be presented at the October meeting.
Previously reported – January 2026
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and Possible Action to Change Paid Parking Enforcement Dates
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
Several commissioners have requested to discuss the dates paid parking is enforced within Town limits.
Alan included this item on the agenda so that the Board could review the parking program and assess whether any relief for the public might be possible. He emphasized that they need to gather information before making any decisions. The topic will be revisited at next month’s meeting.
This is what they consider important and urgent? Yet, filling the Board vacancy and revising the Rules & Procedures apparently are not priorities. At the very least, property owners deserve access to the monthly revenue figures. Why was this information not made available at the meeting? Both costs and revenues play a critical role in determining the Town’s financial position. Recently, expenses have surged with the purchase of new playground equipment (around $200,000) and planned construction of a concert stage (over $400,000), placing additional strain on the Town’s finances. Despite these rising costs, there now seems to be a proposal to reduce a key revenue stream as well. This strategy is difficult to justify, as it remains unclear how such actions would benefit island property owners. Their decisions appear to serve the interests of mainland residents rather than those who own property locally.
Editor’s note –
Holden Beach
Gross revenue: $1,188,392
Total parked vehicles: 66,659
As of Oct. 8, 2025, the town of Holden Beach has generated a total net revenue of $803,148 from its paid parking program, Varner said on Oct. 21. Varner said he expects the town to make $880,000 by the end of the year. This will be a small bump from the nearly $830,000 made in 2024, per Varner’s presentation.
The town of Holden Beach first implemented paid parking in 2022. Originally, the town enacted seasonal paid parking from April 1 to Oct. 31 with rates of $3 per hour, $15 per day, $60 per week, or $125 per year. In 2023 and 2024, the town increased parking rates to $5 per hour, $20 per day, $80 per week and $175 for a single vehicle annual pass and transitioned to year-round paid parking.
OTTO Connect counted a total of 66,659 vehicles parked on the island so far this year, a decrease of nearly 81,000 vehicles counted in 2024. Over 26,000 vehicles were counted in parking spaces in June and July alone.
Brunswick County paid parking programs in 2025
Holden Beach Year-round
Oak Island April 1st to September 30th
Ocean Isle Beach April 1st to October 31st
Sunset Beach April 1st to October 31st
2025 – Paid Parking Revenue
January $54,561
February $49,404
March $81,713
April $100,051
May $105,148
June $137,738
July $127,309
August $96,236
September $50,288
October $27,378
November $23,010
December $27,300
Previously reported – February 2026
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and Possible Action to Change Paid Parking Enforcement Dates
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
At the January meeting, it was asked that staff bring back information concerning paid parking. Several commissioners requested to discuss the dates paid parking is enforced within Town limits.
They discussed potential changes for the parking program. If we planned on suspending paid parking from November through March we are talking about reducing paid parking revenue by $235,988, a 26.81% reduction in revenue from this program, which is pretty significant. I was surprised when Keith suggested a reasonable comprise to just eliminate paid parking in November and December; which would still reduce the revenue by $50,310. He claims that this is to benefit residences and property owners of Holden Beach. After some discussion they decided they would review this item during the budget process.
No decision was made – No action taken
Their main talking point was that this change is intended to benefit the residents and property owners of Holden Beach. “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining”! I seriously question whether eliminating paid parking truly benefits property owners. The Town still faces significant costs to provide necessary services. By having Otto handle parking enforcement, our police officers are freed up to focus on more pressing matters. Part of the narrative suggests that owners and their guests want to use paid parking areas without paying, but every property on the island is within walking distance of a beach access. If someone wishes to visit another part of the island, parking is a reasonable $5 per hour. Let’s be clear: are we really willing to forgo $50K in revenue just so a handful of households can avoid parking fees? This strategy is difficult to justify, as it remains unclear how such actions would benefit the majority of island property owners. In reality, it appears to primarily serve the interests of mainland residents rather than those who actually own property on the island.
Update –
The Town Manager noted that the approved budget already includes a $50,000 reduction for waiving parking fees in November and December, along with an additional $40,000 reduction based on projected trends. Revenues are currently down $41,000. A motion was made for staff to bring back the required documents at the next Regular Meeting.
A decision was made – Approved (3-1)
Commissioner Myers opposed the motion
The Board claims that eliminating paid parking benefits Holden Beach residents and property owners. I disagree; that argument does not hold up. Once again, their narrative suggests that property owners want free use of paid parking areas and that there is no other way to accommodate them. However, every island property is within walking distance of a beach access, and parking elsewhere on the island costs only $5 per hour. Giving up $50,000 in Town revenue so a few households can avoid minimum parking fees is difficult to justify, especially if the primary benefit goes to mainland residents.
6. Town Manager Report – Town Manager Chadwick
Town Manager Report » click here
Bryan reviewed the Town Manager Report
Ocean Boulevard Stormwater
Surveying, preliminary design, and hydraulic modeling have been completed
Previously reported – August 2026
The stormwater project is underway in coordination with NCDOT
Project drawings are not yet available
Previously reported – June 2025
The Town was awarded $2.2M in Environmental Infrastructure Disaster Relief Funding for stormwater projects. To get started USACE requires the execution of the Project Partnership Agreement. The Town portion of the 2.2 million dollar project is 25%, which would cost us $550,000. The motion was made to approve the project partnership agreement with the USACE and have the town staff execute the paperwork.
Block Q Master Plan
Refining options based on meetings that were held recently
Previously reported – August 2026
Block Q stakeholder meetings have been completed. The BOC’s work session and Parks and Recreation Board input meetings have been scheduled.
Block Q Stage Area
Dedication and ribbon cutting was held on September 4th
Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP)
The workshop is scheduled to be held on September 24th
Previously reported – August 2026
Meetings have been held with the engineer, grant administrator, and CAT team
They are still identifying possible projects that qualify
Previously reported – July 2026
Survey is on Town website to help identify potential projects
Previously reported – June 2026
We are in Phase 2 which includes the following: Planning, Project Identification, and Prioritization
Previously reported – May 2026
The Town is currently participating in the 2025 – 2026 cycle of the North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP). The RCCP is a community-based initiative that greatly benefits from involvement, engagement and feedback among local stakeholders. Click here to view details on the program.
Previously reported – April 2025
N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program » click here
The RCCP is a four-phase program designed to:
The four phases are :
North Carolina Division of Coastal Management is accepting applications from eligible communities for no-cost technical assistance to complete Phases I and 2 of the Resilient Coastal Communities Program. The motion was made to complete an application to Resilient Coastal Communities Program by the deadline of April 25th, if it is at all possible.
Canal Dredging
This was an agenda item earlier at this meeting
Previously reported – August 2026
Plans are being made to dredge canals this coming winter
Staff is working on alternative disposal site
Staff is actively working with the Corps on the cost of dredge spoils disposal
Pier Property Site
Mid-Atlantic has completed inspection, report will be presented at next BOC’s meeting
Previously reported – August 2026
Mid-Atlantic is supposed to start the pier underwater survey next week
Inlet Hazard Area
Previously reported – August 2026
Staff will be attending the Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) meeting on August 26th and proposed changes to the Inlet Hazard Areas is on the agenda
Hot Button Items / Inlet Hazard Areas
For more information » click here
Dredging Area Maintenance
USACE is still conducting maintenance work at dredge spoil area DA293 which is located off of Sailfish
Fire Station
RFQ is being finalized by staff
Previously reported – August 2026
The Town is preparing an Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for engineering and design services for the new fire station
Editor’s note –
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is a document that asks potential suppliers or vendors to detail their background and experience providing a specific good or service. In this case, the buyer is only concerned about the vendor’s skills and experience. Professionals responding will be selected solely based on their qualifications and not on price. Once a firm is selected the Town will negotiate a contract for the desired services. Therefore, the response is not a bid.
Previously reported – July 2025
The Planning Department is working on plans for a new fire station. Director Tim Evans talked to the State Fire Marshal and confirmed that the proposed fire station is the appropriate size, is in the appropriate location, and has the right staffing for a community of our size.
Previously reported – August 2025
Timbo gave a slide presentation that reviewed the justifications and requirements for a new fire station on the island at an estimated total cost of $3,375,000. He recommended that we should put the fire station project into the Capital Improvement Plan which will improve our Community Rating System. The improved Community Rating System ratings could get us additional savings on our insurance premium rates. The motion was made to put the fire station project into the Capital Improvement Plan as an unfunded requirement.
Fire Station Presentation » click here
Crosswalks
Previously reported – August 2026
The Town is working on crosswalk enhancements and the addition of new crosswalks at other locations. Funding is now available at no cost to the Town.
Editor’s note –
Beach Access Points
Staff are working on identifying emergency access points on the west end of the island
Currently the farthest west emergency access is at the 800 block
Strategic Planning
The Strategic Planning session is scheduled to be held on December 4th
National Beach Sweep
The Town will be participating in the National Beach Sweep on September 18th and 19th
National Day of Service
In remembrance of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Town of Holden Beach departments participated in a stair-climbing competition with the Town of Shallotte. The challenge was a success, and the departments have since started a running program to prepare for next year’s competition.
In Case You Missed It
THB Newsletter (09/17/26)
Press Release from Chief Barger
HB Police Department Requests Public Assistance Following Vehicle Break-Ins
The Holden Beach Police Department is investigating multiple vehicle break-ins that occurred during the overnight hours of September 16-17, 2026. Officers responded to several reports of vehicles being unlawfully entered in various areas of Holden Beach. Investigators are actively working to identify those responsible and determine whether additional incidents may have occurred that have not yet been reported. The Holden Beach Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance. Residents and visitors are asked to review any home security, doorbell, or surveillance camera footage that may have captured suspicious persons or vehicles during the overnight hours. Any footage showing suspicious activity may be valuable to the investigation. Additionally, anyone who discovers that their vehicle, residence, storage area, or other property was unlawfully entered, or that items are missing, is urged to report the incident by calling 911. As a reminder, residents and visitors are encouraged to take simple precautions to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime. Please ensure that vehicle doors, residential doors, and storage areas are locked, and avoid leaving valuables in plain view inside vehicles. The Holden Beach Police Department would also like to thank the Shallotte Police Department for its assistance in this active investigation.
THB Newsletter (08/31/26)
Brunswick County Public Utilities Stage 1 Voluntary Conservation Alert
Due to current and projected weather forecasts, as well as reduced system demands, Brunswick County has moved from a Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert to a Stage 1 Voluntary Water Conservation Alert. Under Stage 1, all water usage adjustments become voluntary.
Under a Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert, water system customers are requested to make voluntary adjustments to their water usage habits and to follow the recommended irrigation schedule (see below). The voluntary automatic irrigation schedule applies to automatic sprinkler systems for residential and commercial lawn and landscape irrigation.
Recommended Irrigation Schedule (Voluntary)
Water customers are asked to only water lawns and landscaping with automatic irrigation systems (spray irrigation, drip irrigation, etc.) up to one inch of water per week, between the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. on their designated days.
A full list of recommended water usage adjustments can be found online at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise.
THB Newsletter (08/31/26)
Brunswick County Public Utilities Annual Change from Chloramines to Chlorine
PUBLIC NOTICE
Every year, Brunswick County Public Utilities and the towns, cities, and other utilities that purchase water from Brunswick County, implement an annual flushing program. Public Utilities employees flush the water mains by opening fire hydrants and allowing them to flow freely for a short period of time. The flushing cleans out sediment and allows routine maintenance of the more than 1,440 miles of water lines and over 8,161 fire hydrants in the Brunswick County service area. Flushing may result in discoloration and presence of sediment in your water. These conditions are not harmful and are temporary.
During the annual flushing program, a slight change is made in the water treatment process to facilitate an effective flushing program. Throughout the year, Brunswick County Public Utilities adds combined chlorine (in the form of chloramines), to the water as the primary disinfectant. During the annual flushing program, chlorine is added in an uncombined state, commonly referred to as free chlorine. Free chlorine is more effective than combined chlorine at reacting with sediments suspended during flushing. This common practice is also used as preventive maintenance to kill bacteria that, though harmless when consumed by humans, can introduce unwanted taste and odor, and create issues with maintaining a disinfectant residual.
Brunswick County will use free chlorine as the primary disinfectant from October 1, 2026 through November 2026.
Depending on your location within the distribution system and usage patterns, it could take 7 to 10 days for your drinking water to transition from combined chlorine to free chlorine at the beginning of the flushing program. The annual change from chloramines to free chlorine for this brief period is required by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to promote optimal disinfection throughout the water distribution system.
You may experience a change in the taste or smell of your drinking water while free chlorine is being used as the primary disinfection agent. If you are especially sensitive to the taste and odor of chlorine, try keeping an open container of drinking water in your refrigerator. This will enable the chlorine to dissipate and reduce the taste of chlorine in your water. Remember – drinking water has a shelf life. Change out the water in your refrigerated container weekly.
Note:
If you have an aquarium or pond, always test the water that you add to your aquatic environment to be sure it is free of any chlorine before adding fish or other animals. Chemical additives with directions for removing either free chlorine or chloramines from water for use in fish tanks or ponds are available at pet/fish supply stores. Kidney dialysis clinics and customers on home kidney dialysis equipment should also be aware of this change.
National Flood Insurance Program: Reauthorization
Congress must periodically renew the NFIP’s statutory authority to operate. On February 3, 2026, the president signed legislation passed by Congress that extends the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) authorization to September 30, 2026.
News from Town of Holden Beach
The town sends out emails of events, news, agendas, notifications and emergency information. If you would like to be added to their mailing list, please go to their web site to complete your subscription to the Holden Beach E-Newsletter.
For more information » click here
What He Did Not Say
Remind everyone it’s Hurricane Season – be prepared, have a plan!
If you know something, hear something, or see something –
call 911 and let the police deal with it.
Low Speed Vehicle Safety » click here
Public Service Announcement regarding low speed vehicle safety.
Police Chief encourages everyone to download the app
NC Police Connect on the AppStore
Upcoming Events
Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon / Friday, September 25th
Monster Mash Trunk-or-Treat / Friday, October 30th
SBI Three Bridge Tour / Saturday, November 7th
Turkey Trot / Thursday, November 26th
Tentative Schedule — events are not yet on the Town calendar.
Shag Lessons
Barktoberfest
Veterans Appreciation Luncheon
Contractors Information Seminar
Tree Lighting
I emailed the Town to confirm tentative dates for five upcoming island events before listing them in Lou’sViews newsletter. Because the events typically occur at about the same time each year, I based the proposed dates on last year’s schedule and asked the Town to identify any changes. The Town replied that only the dates published in the THB Newsletter on August 3rd are being released at this time. I do not understand why the remaining dates cannot be shared sooner.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ What Evah!
7. Public Comments on General Items
Block Q Restrooms
.
In March 2024, the town accepted a $560,000 state grant and committed $140,000 toward Block Q restrooms, parking, site preparation, and landscaping. Work began in April 2025. Following a project timeline extension, the facility opened in May 2026. Four months later, the new public restroom facility still lacks clear signage identifying the building or directing visitors to the restrooms. Although the parking sign notes that short-term free parking is available for restroom users, there appears to be no other indication of the building’s purpose. Without visible signage, it is unclear how the public would know if the restrooms are available. Anecdotally, this appears to be reflected in current use patterns, as most activity still seems centered around the old bathrooms. At a minimum, I recommend placing a sign on each side of the building. It may also be prudent to add directional signs along Jordan Boulevard to guide visitors to the facility. Given the significant investment in these restrooms, they should not remain underutilized simply because the public is unaware they are there.
General Comments
Commissioner Smith – was not in attendance
• Keith participated remotely but is not permitted to vote
BOC’s Meeting
The Board rescheduled the BOC’s Regular meeting from October 20th to October 27th
It’s not like they don’t have anything to work on …
The following five (5) items are what’s In the Works/Loose Ends queue:
The definition of loose ends is a fragment of unfinished business or a detail that is not yet settled or explained, which is the current status of these items. All of these items were started and then put on hold, and they were never put back in the queue. This Board needs to continue working on them and move these items to closure.
Know the difference between wants and needs?
One of the most basic concepts of economics is want vs. need.
A need is something you have to have.
. • It’s something you can’t do without.
A want is something you would like to have.
. • It’s not absolutely necessary, but it would be a good thing to have.
.
Lost in the Sauce
.
From 2025 / NA
Hurricane Season
For more information » click here.
Be prepared – have a plan!
No matter what a storm outlook is for a given year,
vigilance and preparedness is urged.
Why the 2026 hurricane season is so quiet; what it means for NC coast
So far the 2026 hurricane season, which started June 1, has been very slow. How slow? It’s the quietest start to a hurricane season this century. Why?
For most of this hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center’s online map of the Atlantic basin has been showing a surprising image and message. Nothing with this text superimposed on the map: “Tropical cyclone activity is not expected during the next 7 days.” So far the 2026 season, which started June 1, has been the quietest start to a hurricane season this century. There have only been three named storms so far, and they’ve lasted a combined four days. Tropical Storm Arthur brought significant rain to parts of the Gulf coast and Southeastern United States in mid-June, but only after it dissipated. Tropical Storm Bertha in mid-July also brought rain to parts of the Gulf but didn’t cause much of a ruckus. And Tropical Storm Cristobal in August hung around for about a day in the middle of the Atlantic before petering out. Even a pair of tropical disturbances that held the possibility of forming into something or even combining into a bigger system before hitting the Caribbean in mid-August fizzled out. So what’s going on, and how soon could we see Dolly and Edouard?
The 2026 season is both normal and unusual
According to the hurricane center, things aren’t actually that unusual this year. “The first named storm typically forms in mid- to late June, the first hurricane tends to form in early to mid-August, and the first major hurricane forms in late August or early September,” the agency states on its website. The busiest part of hurricane season also runs roughly from mid-August into early October, with the peak day for activity being Sept. 10. But according to another factor, this season is a strange one. The Weather Channel reports that the accumulated cyclone energy, which measures how long storms last and how strong they get, for this hurricane season is unusually low. According to the weather site, the 2026 season is the slowest-starting hurricane season in terms of accumulated cyclone energy since 1998.
Enter El Niño
Across the board, meteorologists say the strengthening El Niño in the equatorial Pacific is playing a large role in squashing tropical activity in the Atlantic basin. El Niño is a natural climate pattern in which surface seawater temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are warmer than normal. Meaning Little Boy in Spanish, El Niño was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America with the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific around Christmas. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there’s a nearly 70% chance it could develop into a “super” El Niño, meaning its impacts could be greater than normal. If a super El Niño does develop, it could supercharge weather events across the world. For the U.S. South, which could mean wetter conditions with more heavy rainfall events this fall and winter − bringing much-needed relief to the ongoing drought situation in much of the Tar Heel State. In a world already cooking hotter than normal thanks to climate change, the weather pattern also could amplify extreme heat already baking much of the world. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2025 was the third warmest year on record, only trailing 2024 and 2023, with sea-surface temperatures also setting records despite cooling La Niña weather patterns. El Niño can have a significant impact on the severity of the hurricane season in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the Atlantic, the weather pattern tends to reduce activity in the tropical Atlantic by bringing on stronger upper-level wind shear and sinking air, hindering the formation of tropical weather systems, while having the opposite effect and boosting activity in the Pacific. The Northwest Pacific has already seen three Category 5 storms this season, and in the Central Pacific Hurricane Lala just finished lashing Hawaii with 90 mph winds.
What happens now?
The latest forecast from Colorado State University is only calling for nine named storms this season, which would be an exceptionally low total, especially given how warm most of the tropical Atlantic is right now. In effect, the Caribbean has largely become a no-go zone for hurricane formation. “That’s a great indication of the power of El Niño, that it can develop in the Pacific, but still have a controlling role in weather patterns half a world away,” said N.C. Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis. While North Carolina missing out on tropical weather might sound good on paper, it also comes with some other impacts. One of those is a loss of the rainfall such a system would bring to Eastern North Carolina, an area that largely remains in drought or a very dry state as of late August. The region relies on passing tropical weather for much of its summer precipitation that helps farmers and recharges underground aquifers. According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, the Port City had seen 25.3 inches of rain in 2026 as of Aug. 18. That compares to a normal average of nearly 36 inches. “Wilmington averages more than 8 inches of rain in both August and September, and it’s hard to get that much from the sort of spotty showers and storms we’ve seen in recent weeks,” Davis said. “While we certainly don’t wish for anything tropical, some areas could definitely use the rain to make a dent in this drought.” But on the flip side, El Niño normally brings above-average rainfall to the U.S. Southeast in the fall and winter. During the last strong El Niño in 2015, Wilmington has its wettest October on record and fourth-wettest winter, Davis said. “This all feels like a be-careful-what-you-wish-for sort of situation,” he said. “We need the rain now, but we’ll probably be sick of it in a few months.” Tim Armstrong, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Wilmington office, said even with El Niño hindering storm development across much of the tropics, which doesn’t mean Southeastern N.C. is out of the woods for storm development. “There’s still the subtropical Atlantic we have to watch closely,” he said. “El Niño doesn’t affect shear as much outside of the tropics, so a locally grown storm could more easily develop this fall and bring impacts to the Carolinas.” Past examples of these types of storms include Ophelia in 2005 and Diana in 1984. And the unnamed storm that swamped southern New Hanover County and parts of Brunswick County with 20 inches of rain in 2024 was another one of these storms, he added. Officials also continue to stress to coastal residents that even if it appears to be a relatively quiet season, it only takes one storm arriving on your doorstep to make it a terrible hurricane season. “And our own work suggests that it is very difficult to predict that quantity on a year-to-year basis since you are dealing with the statistics are very small numbers,” said Dr. Michael Mann, a meteorologist and scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. “But we do know that there is an increase over time in the maximum intensity of these storms driven by human-caused warming.”
Read more » click here
El Niño has broken Atlantic hurricanes. Now the season is breaking records
No hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic Ocean 103 days into the season, a new record-long wait driven by a beast of an El Niño strangling fledgling storms. Until today, September 11 was the date of the latest first hurricanes — Gustav (2002) and Humberto (2013). Or at least, the latest we know with confidence since 1966, when satellites started tracking hurricanes more accurately. The first hurricane is now more than a month overdue, and there are no prospects for one in the foreseeable future. Thursday marked the statistical peak of the season, and with just five short-lived tropical storms to date, it is now also the least active one since 1950, according to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert with Colorado State University. The only system that made a run at becoming a hurricane was tiny Tropical Storm Edouard on September 1. Edouard was 14 mph shy of hurricane strength and intensifying when it made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border, cutting it off from the Gulf’s warm water fuel. Looking forward, just over 50% of the entire season’s activity typically occurs after September 10, but El Niño will likely have a say in stifling the Atlantic’s final stretch this year. Last year’s first hurricane showed up in mid-August, and three more spun up in the second half of September. The United States managed to avoid a hurricane landfall last year — if the current quiet season repeats that, it’ll be the first back-to-back years without a hurricane landfall since 2009 and 2010. But it’s worth noting that hurricanes can find windows of opportunity to develop even in the most inactive years – and not a single season since 1966 has gone by without one. Most notably, Category 5 Hurricane Andrew’s catastrophic South Florida landfall in August 1992 happened in a season with just seven storms.
El Niño’s hurricane shredder
September is hurricane season’s peak because storm-fueling warm water is at its most expansive and hottest alongside ripe atmospheric factors. About two to three hurricanes develop this month on average. The results can be dangerous, as 2024’s Helene and 2022’s Ian proved, slamming the US Gulf Coast as Category 4s. Water temperatures are warm enough for hurricanes right now, but El Niño-fueled wind shear, aka tropical-system kryptonite, has soured the situation. Wind shear involves changes in wind speed and direction at different levels of the atmosphere, and it can shred apart anything from budding tropical systems to fully developed hurricanes. The shear has been record-strong this summer across the Atlantic’s so-called main development region, which extends from Africa through the Caribbean, according to Klotzbach. Many storms get their start in this region at the height of the season — mid-August to early October — but this year it’s been nearly shutdown. Tropical Storm Dolly is the only system that has formed in this part of the ocean so far in 2026, and a wall of wind shear ripped it apart just 24 hours later. A few other systems have tried to develop but were also defeated by shear. El Niño’s storm-killing winds will remain an obstacle for development in hurricane season’s back stretch, though that’s no reason to get complacent. Plus, late-season storms tend to develop closer to the US, including in the Gulf and off the Southeast coast. Those areas tend to be affected less by El Niño’s wind shear, so they’ll be watched closely. And as we’ve already learned this year, it doesn’t take a hurricane-strength system to cause significant impacts, particularly in a warming world making tropical systems wetter. Tropical Storm Arthur’s remnants fueled widespread flooding along the central Gulf Coast in June. Cottonport, Louisiana, was drenched by 29.06 inches of rain in 24 hours, which obliterated the previous state record of 22 inches set back in 1962. The record is still being reviewed and certified. Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Edouard less than two weeks ago resulted in dangerous flash flooding and water rescues in eastern Texas. A month’s worth of rain fell in an hour and rainfall totals topped 20 inches in some areas north of Beaumont.
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The surprising reason there have been no Atlantic hurricanes this year
El Niño isn’t the only factor. Another force could be contributing to fewer storms and a later peak in the season.
In the last 175 years of record-keeping, there have only been two years that featured zero hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean: 1907 and 1914. And in those years before satellites, it’s possible that some hurricanes may have been missed in the historical record. Could 2026 become a year without a hurricane? It’s not out of the question, but using history as a guide, the chances are low. The hurricane-free conditions thus far may be giving some coastal residents in the Gulf and eastern United States a reprieve, but they are also fueling drought across the Caribbean. A record-breaking El Niño in the Pacific Ocean has created harsh winds that have swept into the Atlantic, preventing storms from growing. Dry air, occasionally coinciding with dust from Africa’s Sahara Desert, has choked off storms from the moisture they require to become more powerful. But a third limiting factor, linked to the planet’s warming trend, may come as a surprise — and be responsible for shifting the peak of hurricane season later into the year. In the Atlantic, the atmosphere has been more stable than normal. “At its most basic level, atmospheric stability is the tendency for air to want to rise or sink,” said hurricane specialist Michael Lowry, who described it as one of the six key ingredients of hurricane formation identified by hurricane researcher William Gray in the late 1960s. “If any one factor is off-kilter, it can torpedo the usual spate of activity around its sharp peak in August, September and October,” said Lowry. Increasing atmospheric stability in the tropical Atlantic may be connected to a changing climate. Temperatures have been rising at different rates in the troposphere, which is the lowest layer of the atmosphere — and the one in which people live. As the tropical Atlantic has warmed during recent decades, more water has evaporated into the atmosphere. Thunderstorms act like elevators, carrying that extra warmth and moisture high into the troposphere. When the moisture condenses into clouds, it releases heat, helping the upper troposphere warm faster than air closer to the ground. And that matters for hurricanes. If the upper troposphere warms faster than the air below, the atmosphere becomes more stable because the temperature difference between the lower and upper atmosphere shrinks. That makes it harder for air to keep rising and thunderstorms to organize into tropical storms and hurricanes. Since the start of this year’s hurricane season, that atmospheric temperature difference in the tropical Atlantic Ocean has been second smallest on record, with records dating back to 1940. And, relatedly, there haven’t been any hurricanes yet. But this uneven atmospheric warming may also contribute to “a kind of whiplash hurricane season,” said Lowry. Historically, the peak of hurricane season is Sept. 10. But if it’s taking the upper troposphere longer to cool off each fall, Lowry said that it could be contributing to a delayed hurricane season peak. “The relative hurricane season peak has been happening later on average over the past decade,” Lowry said, sharing data that showed how it was pushing more into October and November. “The big question is whether this is a short-term blip or a longer-term trend that could be tied to increasing stability,” said Lowry, adding that it was still an active area of research. The idea that increasing atmospheric stability could contribute to fewer hurricanes overall is not new. The theory was investigated in academic research articles nearly two decades ago and Lowry and other researchers explored it following a lull in hurricane activity during 2024. Meteorologist Andy Hazelton described the stability trend as “an issue that’s become more apparent since around 2010 or so,” sharing a view similar to Lowry that it’s linked to hurricane seasons that feature more activity late in the season rather than early. “If this is a robust change over time, it could have implications for tropical cyclone tracks and risk,“ Hazelton said. If the hurricane season peak shifts later, it could become more challenging for hurricanes to hit the U.S. East Coast. That’s because by October, the jet stream grows stronger and can blow storms out to sea. “Not sure that the sample is big enough yet to say it’s definitively a ‘new normal’ but it’s pretty compelling,” said Hazelton.
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Lou’s Views
News & Views / September Edition
Calendar of Events
U.S. Open King Mackerel Fishing Tournament
October 1st thru 3rd
Southport
The U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament has taken place since 1979 and is held annually the first week in October. The U.S. Open is one of the largest king mackerel tournaments on the East Coast and part of the SKA (Southern Kingfish Association) Tournament Trail. The tournament now attracts almost 400 boats annually.
For more information » click here
Riverfest Cancelled
October 3rd & 4th
Wilmington
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Wilmington’s Riverfest is celebrated in October since 1979 and runs from the foot of Market Street to Cape Fear Community College over a half mile of free family entertainment.
For more information » click here
Sunset at Sunset
October 3rd
Sunset Beach
Held the first Saturday in October each year, Sunset at Sunset is the Town of Sunset Beach’s Community Block Party. The annual autumn event has been celebrated since 2007, and is scheduled to happen again this year, in front of Ingram Planetarium on Sunset Boulevard in Sunset Beach.
For more information » click here
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N.C. Oyster Festival
October 17th & 18th
Ocean Isle Beach
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.The annual North Carolina Oyster Festival has been taking place since 1978. Come celebrate everything Oyster witha variety of foods, crafts, contests, children’s activities,and musical performances at Mulberry Park in Shallotte. Signature Festival events include theOyster Shucking Contest, Oyster Eating Contest, and Oyster Stew Cook-off.
For more information » click here
Brunswick County Agricultural Fair and Expo
October 21st thru 25th
Ash
The first annual agricultural fair and expo. Experience thrilling amusement rides and enjoy our vibrant agricultural and livestock exhibits.
For more information » click here
N.C. Festival by the Sea
October 24th & 25th
Holden Beach
Hosted by the Holden Beach Merchants Association this annual two-day festival which started in the 1980’s occurs on the last full weekend in October. The festival is kicked off with a parade down the Holden Beach causeway. There is a fishing tournament, horseshoe tournament, and a sandcastle building contest. Vendors provide food, arts and crafts, amusement rides and other activities. There is live musical entertainment both days at the Holden Beach’s Pavilion.
For more information » click here
Discover a wide range of things to do in the Brunswick Islands for an experience that goes beyond the beach.
For more information » click here.
Calendar of Events Island
Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon
The Town of Holden Beach will hold its annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon on Friday, September 25th at noon.Town board and committee members are invited to attend and bring a guest. Please RSVP by emailing Christy at christy.ferguson@hbtownhall.com with your name and the total number in your party.
Barktoberfest
The Town of Holden Beach will hold Barktoberfest on Friday, October 30th. Owners and their dogs should meet at Bridgeview Park Picnic shelter at 5:00 p.m. where we will do a trick-or-trot around the block.There will be a doggie costume contest and fall pictures. Registration is required by October 17th. Email Christy at christy.ferguson@hbtownhall.com to register.
Monster Mash Trunk-or-Treat
The Town of Holden Beach will hold a trunk-or-treat on Friday, October 30th from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Bridgeview Park. Residents, property owners, and businesses may register by October 17th to decorate your trunk and pass out candy.Trunks must be ready by 5:00 p.m. No political activity may be represented at the booth displays. There will be a prize for best decorated trunk and a costume contest held at 6:00 p.m. Categories include 3 and under, 4-7, 8-11, 12-15 and adult. Register by emailing Christy at christy.ferguson@hbtownhall.com. Those planning to attend the event may also email so that there is a headcount for candy purposes. In the email, please indicate whether you will be setting up a truck or trick-or-treating.
SBI Three Bridge Tour
The South Brunswick Islands Rotary Club SBI Three Bridge Tour is set to take place on Saturday, November 7th, in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. This event offers a unique opportunity for cyclists to ride across the three bridges of Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and Holden Beach. Participants can choose from various ride options, including family-friendly routes and more challenging distances, ensuring a memorable experience for everyone. The tour supports local and international Rotary projects, enriching the lives of children and youth in Brunswick County. Proceeds from the event will be used to fund these projects, providing experiences and learning opportunities that will benefit the community.
For more information » click here
Turkey Trot
The Town of Holden Beach will hold its annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning Thursday, November 26th at 8:00 a.m. All individuals interested in participating should call 910.842.6488 to register. Please bring a canned food item to donate to the local food pantry.
Tentative Schedule – dates are still to be determined
Dates are based on last year’s schedule
Events are not yet on the Town calendar
Shag Lessons
The Town of Holden Beach is taking names for an interest list for shag lessons at the Holden Beach Town Hall on Wednesday evenings, beginning October 14th and going through November 18th. The cost is $60 for residents for the series and $70 for non-residents. Beginners’ classes will run from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and intermediate from 6:30-7:30 p.m. You must have a dance partner in order to sign up. The instructor for the class will be Chuck Boney and participants will pay him directly. Register by emailing Christy at christy.ferguson@hbtownhall.com.
Note: The classes will only be held if there is enough interest.
Veterans Appreciation Luncheon
The Town of Holden Beach will hold its Veterans Appreciation Luncheon on Monday, November 9th. The event will be held at 11:30 a.m. in the Town Hall Board Room. Please RSVP by emailing Christy at christy.ferguson@hbtownhall.com prior to Friday, November 1st with your name and the name of your guest.
Contractors Information Seminar
The Planning & Inspections Department, supported by the town staff, will be hosting the fifteenth annual Contractors Information Seminar on Thursday, November 12th. Contractors and electricians will earn two hours of continuing education credits. Don’t miss this FREE educational opportunity.
Tree Lighting
The Town of Holden Beach will hold its annual tree lighting ceremony on Thursday, December 3rd at 6:00 p.m.
Parks & Recreation / Programs & Events
For more information » click here
Reminders
Pets on the Beach Strand
§90.20 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNERS
Effective September 10th
Free Cleanup Week
The Brunswick County Solid Waste and Recycling Division hosts two free clean up weeks a year, the third week in April and September. The next Free Cleanup Week at the Brunswick County Landfill will take place Monday, September 21st through Saturday, 26th. Brunswick County property owners and residents can dispose of all materials, except for regular household trash and hazardous waste, at the Brunswick County Landfill free of charge during Free Cleanup Week events. Individuals can dispose of metal, tires, electronics, appliances, latex paint, clothing, shoes, used oil, oil filters, antifreeze, gasoline, fluorescent bulbs, used cooking oil, smoke detectors, household batteries, and yard debris in their designated areas at the landfill during this week. Participants must show proof of Brunswick County property ownership or residency.
For questions, email Brunswick County Operation Services or call 910-253-2520.
LOCATION
Brunswick County Landfill
172 Landfill Rd NE
Bolivia, NC 28422
HOURS OF OPERATION
Monday through Friday :30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 7:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Editor’s note –
The Brunswick County Solid Waste and Recycling Division hosts two Free Cleanup Week events a year, typically the third full week in April and September.
International Coastal Cleanup
The Town of Holden Beach will partner with the Turtle Patrol for International Coastal Cleanup on Saturday, September 19th. Individuals interested in helping to pick up trash from the beach should report to the picnic shelter at Bridgeview Park at 7:30 a.m. You will be assigned an area of the beach to cover and should return back to the picnic shelter by 9:00 a.m. to dispose of the trash. Suggested supplies to bring with you include gloves, a bucket or trash bag, reach grabbers, sunscreen, bug spray, and water. Your participation makes a huge difference in protecting our precious marine life and maintaining the pristine condition of our beaches. If you cannot participate this day but have another day the week prior to the 20th that you could help, please plan to visit one of the town parks to clear it of any trash that may be on the ground.
Editor’s note –
International Coastal Cleanup Day in 2026 takes place on the third Saturday of September, mobilizing millions worldwide to remove trash from beaches, rivers, and waterways.
News from Town of Holden Beach
The town sends out emails of events, news, agendas, notifications, and emergency information. If you would like to be added to their mailing list, please go to their web site to complete your subscription to the Holden Beach E-Newsletter.
For more information » click here
Paid Parking
Paid parking in Holden Beach
Paid parking will be enforced from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily with free parking before and after that time. All parking will use license plates for verification.
Rates
Parking rates for a single vehicle in all designated areas will be:
$5 per hour for up to four hours
$20 per day for any duration greater than four hours
$80 per week for seven consecutive days
Handicap Parking
A vehicle displaying a handicap license plate and/or hang tag parked in a designated handicap space is free. Any other parking space will require a parking permit via the app.
Annual Passes
Annual permits for the calendar year allow vehicles (this includes low-speed vehicles and trailers) access to designated parking.
$175 for a single vehicle
Passes can be purchased via the app, website or by telephone.
Where to Park
Per ordinance, there is no parking on the streets or rights-of-way except in designated parking spaces identified by Pay-to-Park signs. Click here to view an interactive map. The table with authorized parking can be viewed below.
Citations will be issued for:
How Do I Pay to Park
The Town uses the SurfCAST by Otto Connect Mobile Solution. This is a mobile app downloadable for Apple and Android devices. Download the app today. Users will setup their account, enter their license plate details and pay for parking directly on the app. Alternatively, users can scan the QR Code located on the parking signs to access a secure website.
The Otto Connect customer service team will be available to help via phone and email.
THB Newsletter (06/18/26)
OttoView by Otto Connect
Just in time for peak beach season, Otto Connect, Inc. has launched a new feature designed to make parking along the coast easier and less stressful for visitors and residents alike. “OttoView by Otto Connect,” is part of the SurfCAST parking system and allows users to check parking availability in real time before heading to the beach. The feature is now available in Holden Beach. For many drivers, finding parking during busy summer weekends can be one of the most frustrating parts of a beach trip. OttoView aims to reduce congestion and save time by showing which lots have open spaces—and which do not—before users arrive. “Instead of circling for a spot, people can now see their options ahead of time and go directly to available parking,” Jim Varner (CEO) said in a statement.
Know before you go:
OttoView can be accessed through the SurfCAST website
(https://park.surfcast.ottoconnect.us/), the QRcode link, and will be available soon via mobile app update (“SurfCAST by Otto”) making it easy for visitors to plan from home or on the go.
What OttoView Shows:
OttoView is fully integrated into the SurfCAST system and is available at no additional cost.
For more information, visit https://www.ottoconnect.us.
Solid Waste Pickup Schedule
GFL Environmental change in service, the Saturday before Memorial Day till the end of September, trash pickup will be twice a week.
Please note:
Trash carts must be at the street by 6:00 a.m. on the pickup day
BAG the trash before putting it in the cart
Carts will be rolled back to the front of the house
GFL Refuse Collection Policy
GFL has recently notified all Brunswick County residents that they will no longer accept extra bags of refuse outside of the collection cart. This is not a new policy but is stricter enforcement of an existing policy. While in the past GFL drivers would at times make exceptions and take additional bags of refuse, the tremendous growth in housing within Brunswick County makes this practice cost prohibitive and causes drivers to fall behind schedule.
Solid Waste Pickup Schedule
starting October once a week
Recycling
starting October every other week pick-up
Yard Waste Service
Yard debris is collected on the second (2nd) and fourth (4th) Fridays during the months of October, November, and December.Yard debris needs to be secured in a biodegradable bag (not plastic) or bundled in a maximum length not to exceed five (5) feet and fifty (50) pounds in weight. Each residence is allowed a total of ten (10) items, which can include a combination of bundles of brush and limbs meeting the required length and weight and/ or biodegradable bags. Picks-ups are not provided for vacant lots or construction sites.
Curbside Recycling – 2026
GFL Environmental is now offering curbside recycling for Town properties that desire to participate in the service. The service cost per cart is $122.93 annually paid in advance to the Town of Holden Beach. The service consists of a ninety-six (96) gallon cart that is emptied every other week during the months of October – May and weekly during the months of June – September.
Curbside Recycling Application » click here
Curbside Recycling Calendar » click here
Trash Can Requirements – Rental Properties
GFL Environmental – trash can requirements
Ordinance 07-13, Section 50.08
Rental properties have specific number of trashcans based on number of bedrooms.
* One extra trash can per every 2 bedrooms
..
§ 50.08 RENTAL HOMES.
(A) Rental homes, as defined in Chapter 157, that are rented as part of the summer rental season, are subject to high numbers of guests, resulting in abnormally large volumes of trash. This type of occupancy use presents a significantly higher impact than homes not used for summer rentals. In interest of public health and sanitation and environmental concerns, all rental home shall have a minimum of one trash can per two bedrooms. Homes with an odd number of bedrooms shall round up (for examples one to two bedrooms – one trash can; three to four bedrooms – two trash cans; five – six bedrooms – three trash cans, and the like).
Upon Further Review
A Second Helping since 2005
For the last fifteen (15) weeks they have collected food on Saturday mornings in front of Beach Mart; the food is distributed to the needy in Brunswick County. During this summer season, they collected 10,028 pounds of food and $1,755 in monetary donations. Their food collections have now exceeded three hundred and seventeen thousand (327,000) pounds of food since this program began in June of 2005. Hunger exists everywhere in this country. Thanks to the Holden Beach vacationers for donating again this year! Cash donations are gratefully accepted. One hundred percent (100%) of these cash donations are used to buy more food. You can be assured that the money will be very well spent.
Mail Donations to:
A Second Helping
% Sharon United Methodist Church
2030 Holden Beach Road
Supply, NC 28462
ReadyBrunswick Emergency Notifications Alerts
Brunswick County uses ReadyBrunswick as part of the County’s effort to continuously improve communications during emergency situations within our area. Powered by Everbridge, the ReadyBrunswick notification system sends emergency notifications in a variety of communication methods such as:
In the case of an emergency, you may choose to receive notifications via one or all of these communication methods. It’s recommended that you register several media options to receive messages in the event a particular communication device is unavailable.
For more information » click here
North Carolina sets new tourism spending record in 2025
North Carolina set a new tourism spending record in 2025, with travelers spending more than $37.2 billion across the state. Gov. Josh Stein announced the new record Monday, surpassing the previous high of $36.7 billion set in 2024. “North Carolina remains a great place to visit from our beautiful shore to our breathtaking mountains,” Stein said. “Even in the face of challenges from Hurricane Helene recovery last year, we saw record visitor spending — proof that people want to be here and experience all our state has to offer.” Tourism spending also had a major impact across the Cape Fear. Brunswick County saw nearly $1.25 billion in visitor spending in 2025, up 1.3% from the previous year. Tourism supported 6,035 jobs in the county and generated about $37.9 million in state taxes and $52.6 million in local taxes. New Hanover County recorded more than $1.2 billion in visitor spending, an increase of 5.8% from 2024. Tourism supported 7,250 jobs and generated about $40.2 million in state taxes and $45.1 million in local taxes. Pender County saw more than $203 million in visitor spending, up 0.4%, while tourism supported 1,051 jobs. Visitor spending reached about $60.8 million in Columbus County, down 2.8% from 2024, and about $56.3 million in Bladen County, up 0.2%. Statewide, direct tourism employment increased 0.3% to 230,997 jobs in 2025. Tourism payroll increased 3.5% to $9.8 billion. Visitor spending generated more than $2.7 billion in state and local tax revenue. Domestic travelers spent a record $36.1 billion in North Carolina, up 1.5% from 2024. International travelers spent more than $1.1 billion, down 2.8%. Despite the record spending, North Carolina fell in domestic visitation rankings, dropping from fifth in the country in 2024 to seventh in 2025, behind California, Florida, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia. According to Visit North Carolina, visitors spent more than $101 million per day across the state in 2025. The tourism spending figures are preliminary findings from research commissioned by Visit North Carolina and conducted by Tourism Economics.
Read more » click here
Corrections & Amplifications
Fire Service Funding
State and Brunswick officials raise fire fees to boost funding
Following wildfires and annual surges in population, North Carolina officials have allowed a boost in some of Brunswick County’s fire fee funding. The county’s fire fee was being charged at the maximum allowed, not allowing room for local fire departments to have additional revenue to continue growing. Now, the maximum fire fee amounts that some local fire departments may charge within their fire districts could bring in thousands of additional revenue all together. “Brunswick County is the only county in North Carolina that funds fire protection through a fire fee system rather than a fire tax… Most Brunswick County fire departments have already reached those statutory maximums,” as stated in recent county commissioner meeting packet. In April, representatives from local fire departments and the commissioners requested state legislators increase the statutory fire fee caps to help address critical funding needs. Fire fee amounts are governed by North Carolina General Statutes, which establishes maximum fee limits. Fire fees are calculated based on the heated square footage of a building, or on the acreage of a vacant property. Gov. Josh Stein signed the Fiscal Year 2026–2027 State Budget into law on July 7. The budget included legislation amending the county’s fire fee authority, ultimately boosting some fire department’s ability to charge an additional 10-25%. Although the legislation is now in effect, county commissioners had to amend the county’s adopted fiscal year 2027 budget ordinance to incorporate the updated fire fees for the affected fire districts. The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing regarding the changes in the fire fee funding as a result of the adopted state budget. Following the hearing, board members approved the requested changes as presented, Brunswick County Commissioner Pat Sykes being the only opposing vote.
Read more » click here
Previously reported – February 2026
County proposes new fire service contract focused on performance, accountability
While Brunswick County continues working out how it will fund local fire service in the future, county commissioners on Jan. 20 were presented with an updated fire services agreement draft aimed at establishing performance standards and improving financial reporting standards for local nonprofit fire departments. The board did not vote on adopting the updated agreement on Jan. 20, instead providing county administration with feedback on the proposed changes. The primary changes outlined in the updated service contracts related to establishing performance standards for local fire departments and increasing financial accountability for departments that plan to accept additional funding the county plans to provide in the upcoming fiscal year, county staff explained. For over a year, Brunswick County has been investigating how to sufficiently fund in-county fire service following concerns about the existing fire fee funding model adequacy. Fire fees are imposed by the county on real property owners to fund the furnishing of fire protection services, per state law. Fire fees for improved properties are calculated based on a building’s heated square footage; fire fees for vacant land are calculated based on property acreage. Fire fees are not based on tax value. Many local nonprofit departments are facing challenges stemming from declining volunteer numbers necessitating most departments to hire paid staff, increasing costs and delivery time for fire apparatus and equipment, increased call volume and the need for new or updated facilities due to growth. These departments operate entirely on fire fees, grants, fundraising and private donations. Municipal departments are facing similar struggles related to growth and increased costs. These departments are funded partly by fire fees supplemented by ad valorem (property) taxes collected by each department’s municipality. As a potential solution, the county has been exploring moving away from its fire fee funding model to a fire tax funding model. With a fire tax model, counties can charge a 10-cent fire tax per $100 property value in each fire district or between 11- and 15-cents per $100 value with a voter-approved referendum. If the county moves to a fire tax system, citizens would no longer pay fire fees. Though this change is not planned for fiscal year 2026-2027, which begins July 1, county officials are working to prepare for a possible change in FY 2027-2028. In lieu of the funding model switch in FY 26-27, County Manager Steve Stone in November recommended the county revise its fire service funding contracts with local nonprofit departments to clarify its service expectations and require more financial accountability aimed at improving service across the county. The county is also considering providing between $10 million and $12 million in one-time supplemental funding to local departments to help meet service demands while a permanent solution is worked out. Stone said the $10-$12 million estimate is based on funding needed for minimum staffing levels at each department. The final subsidy funding figure will be calculated as part of the FY 26-27 budget process, he added. “It could be more. It could be less.” The county manager also explained fire departments would need to sign the finalized new services agreement “to be eligible to receive supplemental funding.” Brunswick County Spokesperson Meagan Kascsak said the current agreements between local fire departments and the county do not expire for another two fiscal years, and departments can continue operating under those agreements if they so choose. “However, if a department chooses this route, they will not be able to request subsidized funding for particular projects or purchases that their current fire fee allotment may not be able to cover,” Kascsak said. The new agreement contains a proposed stipulation requiring any equipment fire departments purchase with county-subsidized funds to be titled to Brunswick County and leased to respective fire departments, Kascsak confirmed. “Any existing equipment a fire department owns that was purchased in the past from their general fund/fire fees allocation, grant funding, donations, etc. will continue to belong to that fire department and will not be titled to the county,” she added. County staff has met with the Brunswick County Fire Chief’s Association to discuss the updated agreement and its provisions, Stone said. County officials following the Jan. 20 meeting were also set to meet with the municipal fire departments, he added, though these departments’ contracts differ and will apply to areas outside municipal fire departments’ corporate limits. The county manager during the Jan. 20 meeting explained the major changes in the proposed new agreement. “What we have here essentially are for the really the first time in the past 26 or 27 years or more, whereby we have some specific department performance standards which are based on national standards from the National Fire Protection Association for rural areas,” Stone said. “We also are moving towards more financial accountability with this agreement, but we would not really require additional financial work on the part of the departments. The additional auditing, we would propose that the county actually engage an auditor to do that work.” The proposed agreement also adds requirements related to response times, staffing, operational capabilities, required data collection and reporting that data to the county Fire Oversight Committee. Concerning response times, the proposed agreement requires fire departments to “make reasonable efforts to deliver the first-arriving unit and the minimum Effective Response Force (ERF) to emergency incidents within” 14 minutes or less from dispatch to arrival on-scene for structural fire suppression, and eight minutes or less from dispatch to arrival on-scene for single unit response. Departments would be expected to achieve these response times in “at least 80% of all emergency incidents occurring within the contract service area, measured annually.” If a department’s performance falls below the outlined 80% threshold, it would be required to: conduct a root-cause analysis with the county fire administrator and submit a written corrective action plan within 60 days identifying the deficiency and outlining corrective measures. Regarding response staffing, the proposed agreement would require a total of six “qualified firefighters” on the scene for fire suppression incidents requiring an initial attack capability within the required response times. Four of the six qualified firefighters would be required to be from the primary responding department. The proposed agreement defines “qualified firefighters” as “individuals of the department who meet the training and certification standards recognized by the department and applicable state and federal regulations for their assigned role.” Additionally, each department would be required to maintain records of dispatch times, turnout times, travel times, personnel counts upon arrival on scene, incident types and locations and any factors resulting in delayed or impaired response. Departments would also need to submit quarterly performance reports to the Brunswick County Fire Oversight Committee. Information contained in those reports include the percentage of incidents in which the departments met the 14-minute performance objective, staffing compliance data, analysis of deficiencies and contributing factors and performance improvement recommendations. The county would provide the software to each department for aforementioned data and records collection, Stone told the board. Brunswick County Fire Chiefs Association Vice President Keith McGee, who is also the Calabash Fire Department Chief, said the proposed agreement “represents several fundamental shifts in how fire service governance, performance expectations, and accountability are structured in Brunswick County,” noting the chief’s association is “not at this time expressing agreement with the contract as currently written.” McGee asked the county to continue conservation and collaboration with local fire departments and allow departments more time to review the agreement before bringing it to a vote. “We believe that this approach will help ensure a final agreement that is clear, workable, and supported by both the county and the fire departments that are responsible for delivering emergency services to our citizens,” he said. County administration is expected to bring an updated draft, incorporating board feedback and additional feedback from local fire departments to the board of commissioners during its Monday, Feb. 16 meeting at 6 p.m.
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Previously reported – May 2026
Brunswick County formally requests fire fee cap increase
The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners on May 4 voted to ratify a resolution requesting the North Carolina General Assembly amend local fire fee legislation to increase fire fee caps by 50% total over the next two fiscal years. Fire fees are imposed by the county on real property owners to fund the furnishing of fire protection services, per state law. Fire fees for improved properties are calculated based on a building’s heated square footage; fire fees for vacant land are calculated based on property acreage. Fire fees are not based on tax value. The cap increase, originally requested by local fire departments through the Brunswick County Fire Chiefs’ Association, would allow fire departments to increase maximum collectable fire fee amounts by a total of 50% by fiscal year 2027-2028, with a maximum 25% cap increase in FY 2026-2027 beginning July 1. The requested cap increase, if approved, will not require local fire departments to increase fire fee rates, but rather will allow them to do so if demand requires it. For example, Calabash Fire Department in a social media statement last week said it does not plan to raise fire fees in FY 2026-27. Primary fire service in Brunswick County jurisdiction is typically provided by nonprofit volunteer fire departments — most of which now are primarily staffed by paid firefighters — with nearby municipal fire departments, and other nonprofit departments, providing secondary response. Municipal departments also often cover areas in county jurisdiction within their respective fire districts that also include areas within municipal jurisdiction. Many local nonprofit departments, which operate entirely on fire fees and grants, fundraising and donations, are facing challenges stemming from exploding call volume, declining volunteer firefighter numbers, increasing costs for fire apparatus and other equipment and the need for new or updated facilities due to ongoing growth. Some municipal departments, funded partly by fire fees supplemented by property taxes collected by their respective municipalities, are facing similar struggles related to growth and increased costs. The current fire fee schedule was last adjusted in 2017, and the resolution notes in-county growth and fire service demand has necessitated another adjustment. The existing fee schedule, the resolution states, has “become further outdated” and is “insufficient to keep up with inflation as well as the growing population and needs of Brunswick County.” The resolution asserts that the requested cap increase will “enhance the ability of Brunswick County to meet the fire protection needs of its citizens.” During the May 4 meeting, Calabash Fire Department Chief and Fire Chiefs’ Association Vice President Keith McGee requested commissioners support for the resolution.
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Previously reported – June 2026
Brunswick County to form fire service committee
The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners on June 1 voted unanimously to form a committee to review the fire service situation in Brunswick County and work to develop a path forward for a new fire service funding mechanism. Commissioner Frank Williams made the recommendation for the establishment of the committee, first proposed earlier this spring by Brunswick County Fire Chief’s Association President Charles Drew, who is also the Southport Fire Department Chief. Drew on April 20 asked the commissioners to form a committee including fire chiefs, county commissioners, mayors and citizens to study a new funding fire service mechanism to be established in Brunswick County by the 2027-28 fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2027. Williams on June 1 noted Drew’s recommendation was for the proposed committee “to review the fire situation and, specifically, to help develop a path forward for a new funding mechanism, review and agree on a contract, and possibly discuss capital oversight.” “[Drew’s] proposed structure was two commissioners, two chiefs (one from a municipal and one from a nonprofit department), two mayors (one a town with a municipal department, one from a town without), and two citizen members,” Commissioner Williams said last week. “I would like to see us form a committee, but with a couple of additional people on it. One being the county fire administrator, one being a member of our county management team, and then other county staff, whether it be finance or legal, in an advisory capacity as needed.” The board of commissioners unanimously agreed with Williams’ recommendation and instructed county staff to add the official creation of the committee as an item on the board of commissioners’ June 15 meeting agenda. Brunswick County for over a year has been exploring moving away from its current fire fee funding model that both county and fire service leadership have called inadequate at meeting the needs of the growing county. Fire fees are imposed by the county on real property owners to fund the furnishing of fire protection services, per state law. Fire fees for improved properties are calculated based on a building’s heated square footage; fire fees for vacant land are calculated based on property acreage. Fire fees are not based on tax value. A funding model change is not planned for fiscal year 2026-2027 that begins July 1, though county officials have previously said they are working towards enacting a change in FY 2027-2028 that starts next July 1. Primary fire service in Brunswick County jurisdiction is typically provided by nonprofit volunteer fire departments — most of which now are primarily staffed by paid firefighters — with nearby municipal fire departments, and other nonprofit departments, providing secondary response. Municipal departments also often cover areas in county jurisdiction within their respective fire districts that also include areas within municipal jurisdiction. Many local nonprofit departments, which operate entirely on fire fees and grants, fundraising and donations, are facing challenges stemming from exploding call volume, declining volunteer firefighter numbers, increasing costs for fire apparatus and other equipment and the need for new or updated facilities due to ongoing growth. Some municipal departments, funded partly by fire fees supplemented by property taxes collected by their respective municipalities, are facing similar struggles related to growth and increased costs. In lieu of a funding mechanism change in FY 26-27, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners on May 4 voted to ratify a resolution requesting the North Carolina General Assembly amend local fire fee legislation to increase fire fee caps by 50% total over the next two fiscal years. The cap increase, originally requested by local fire departments through the Brunswick County Fire Chiefs’ Association, would allow fire departments to increase maximum collectable fire fee amounts by a total of 50% by fiscal year 2027-2028, with a maximum 25% cap increase in FY 2026-2027 beginning July 1. The cap increase would not require local fire departments to increase fire fee rates but rather will allow them to do so if demand requires it. This is a developing story. The Brunswick Beacon will continue reporting updates on this situation as it progresses.
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Ocean Isle Beach Terminal Groin
Ocean Isle Beach completed construction of a terminal groin on its east end in April 2022 to help protect the beach immediately behind it. However, this structure has contributed to significant erosion at the east end near Shallotte Inlet by interrupting natural longshore drift, prompting ongoing efforts such as sandbag use to prevent ocean encroachment on properties in that area.
2024 OIB SHORELINE AND INLET ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT
On Holden Beach, the recent volume change rates (May 2024 to November 2024) along the oceanfront shoreline indicated erosion at 12 of the 21 monitoring stations. Similarly, the MHW shoreline change rates indicated a shoreline retreat at 15 of the 21 monitoring stations. The long-term post-construction linear shoreline changes along the Holden Beach oceanfront shoreline indicated landward retreat. However, volumetric changes indicated slight accretion (0.2 cy/ft./yr.) within this area over the long-term period. The shoreline threshold analysis results along the Holden Beach oceanfront shoreline show that the post-construction shoreline change threshold was exceeded at only one monitoring station. This is the first time a threshold has been exceeded at Holden Beach since this annual analysis started in 2022. In addition, the analysis of May 2024 aerial imagery-derived wet/dry line revealed an 885 ft. section of Holden Beach’s inlet shoreline that exceeded the inlet shoreline threshold by a maximum distance of 100 feet. The inlet shoreline threshold on Holden Beach was also exceeded in Year-2. This marks two straight years where this threshold was exceeded. The inlet shoreline recession is believed to likely be attributed to a combination of morphological changes within Shallotte Inlet including the position and orientation of the main channel through Shallotte Inlet and the formation of a flood channel on the inlet shoulder of Holden Beach. Regardless, as stated in the Plan, because the shoreline changes in this area exceeded the threshold over the entire 2-year confirmation period, an assessment of the proper responsive measures will be made through coordination with State and Federal regulatory officials.
East End/Terminal Groin Short Term Mitigation
As required by State and Federal permits associated with the Town’s Shoreline and Inlet Management Plan, annual shoreline monitoring identified erosion east of the terminal groin that exceeded established management thresholds. To maintain permit compliance and address localized erosion concerns, the Town implemented a short-term mitigation project consisting of targeted beach nourishment east of the terminal groin.
Project Update
This project, along with the US Army Corps of Engineers – Shallotte Inlet Crossing & Widener Project, placed 70,000 cy of sand east of the terminal groin with another 35,000 cy west of the terminal groin. With this short-term mitigation measure in place, the Town has engaged with Coastal Protection Engineering (CPE) to investigate long-term mitigation plans to prevent any further erosion adjacent to the terminal groin.
‘150 years of negative impacts’ to New Jersey coast: Corbett
In the last six years the Atlantic Ocean has demolished nearly three dozen privately owned oceanfront homes in Buxton and Rodanthe. These collapsed houses represent a broader coastal management challenge, even pushing the commission that makes coastal development rules to reconsider a decades long ban on hardened structures built for erosion control, Dr. Reide Corbett said during a recent talk at Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harker’s Island. A coastal oceanographer and geochemist, Corbett, as of July 16, is the new interim dean of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences on East Carolina University’s main campus. He spent the last 14 years as head of the Coastal Studies Institute, or CSI, in Wanchese, led by ECU. His talk was one of five in the “Water/Ways” speaker series last month organized to complement the Smithsonian traveling exhibit with the same name that was on display at the time. “There’s no doubt that we are seeing changes along our shoreline,” and because there’s not just one thing driving coastal change, there’s not one simple solution, Corbett said early in the presentation. “I’ll go ahead and put quotes around ‘solution’ now because I might not do it throughout the entire talk, because a solution to many of these challenges we face is likely only temporary. It’s not going to solve the problem. The process that is driving many of these changes won’t be solved by one thing.”
The process
North Carolina’s coast is protected by low-lying sand deposits called barrier islands. These mobile landforms that separate the mainland from the ocean are in constant but slow motion toward the mainland. This natural process is how these islands maintain elevation and width. This is nothing new, “barrier islands have always changed,” Corbett said, but now these mobile landforms are developed. “For better or worse, it is where we are. These coastlines have been changing since there were coastlines. The difference is we have a lot of infrastructure today in the same areas where these coastlines are changing.” The natural process of erosion on the oceanside and growth on the sound side of the island is being exacerbated by increasing sea levels, development associated with population growth, and storm impacts. The National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration reported a few years ago that sea level is expected to rise 1 to 1.5 feet by 2050. “To put that in perspective, it took the last almost 100 years for sea levels to change 1 foot in coastal North Carolina,” Corbett said. “And from roughly 2000 to 2050, we’ll expect at least an additional 1-to 1.5-foot rise.” That is a significant amount, and “When you look at what sea level is doing based on tide gauges up and down our coast, we are right on track to meet that if not surpass that” projection that he said has a 95% chance of happening. To illustrate, when a house on the Outer Banks gets taken by the ocean, Corbett said the “narrative is ‘often why did people build here? Why would they put their house right there? It’s so vulnerable,’” but when the houses were built in Buxton, for example, in the 1970s and 1980s, there was 100 to 300 feet of beach, or a few dunes, in front at the time. Now, the ocean is on their doorstep. It’s because these shorelines have been eroding for decades, some at 5, 10 or 15 feet per year every year. Then put a storm on top of that, or this past fall, three storms “one after another after another without any time for recovery, and what you end up doing is deflating the beach, dropping the elevation of that beach, removing significant amount of sand because of the energy in the system.” There has been roughly a 1-foot rise in sea level since 1975 at this location, and erosion has continued anywhere from 4 to 8 feet per year there. “You put those two things together and this is what you have,” he said. As Corbett said early in the program, “there’s not going to be a single simple solution for any community” and what may work for one won’t necessarily work for another.
Community questions
Communities need to ask themselves what they are trying to protect. “Is it an individual home? Is it a way of life? Is it an economy? Where are we acting? Where is it most vulnerable? What are we trying to protect? And where is that? You can ask ‘why are we trying to protect that?’ as well if you like. How far are we looking out into the future? Because I think that’s important to consider when acting on a potential solution.” What can a community do once it decides on a path forward? There are a handful of options, starting with nothing, which Corbett said isn’t really a response. Some areas can be protected. For example, a living shoreline in an estuary could protect infrastructure. Accommodate the change and that might look like houses being raised or a bridge around a very vulnerable location or leave. “Nobody likes to hear the word ‘retreat’ because it seems like you’re giving up. And I don’t disagree with that,” he said, but the idea is to move out of those most vulnerable locations. Corbett said that hardened structures are “being pointed to a lot today as a way of protection, a solution to the problem. And I think it’s important to recognize the tradeoffs.” In North Carolina, hardened structures have not been used to control erosion in decades, because of a policy in the 1980s and then a law in the early 2000s. Corbett noted on the presentation slide that the state law “prohibits the construction of a permanent erosion control structure in an ocean shoreline, including breakwater, bulkhead, groin, jetty, revetment, seawall or any similar structure. This ban was based on extensive studies and technical data documenting the detrimental impacts of erosion control structures, including 150 years of documented negative impacts of shoreline stabilization on the barrier islands of New Jersey.” The different kinds of hardened structures come with their own sets of problems. A vertical structure like a seawall might protect what’s behind it but will lead to higher erosion rates on either side of the structure and a total loss of recreation beach in front of it, Corbett said. The houses actively crumbling have pressed the Coastal Resources Commission to consider potential changes to its laws on hardened structures and charged its science panel, on which he serves, in February to draft a report on the various types of hardened structures for oceanfront and the advantages and disadvantages of each type. The report was first presented during the commission’s June meeting. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management, which carries out the development rules established by the commission, announced that the commission is to hear an update on the report during the Aug. 26-27 meeting in Manteo. But with all those responses, “I think it’s important to recognize that the processes aren’t changing,” Corbett said. Buxton has three terminal groins that were built in the 1960s that have deteriorated, and the narrative suggests that the deterioration and large holes in the structure farthest south has led to significant erosion. “My argument is, it’s not just that. It’s an erosional system. There’s a lot of data to show that even with these groins, there’s a reason we moved the lighthouse,” said Corbett, referring to the Cape Hatteras Light, which was moved in 1999 a distance of 2,900 feet from where it was built in 1870 because of its proximity to the waves. “It wasn’t a stable system. And those groins have been there since the late ’60s. And so, this is an eroding system. And it’s been eroding regardless of whether those groins were there or not. And it will continue to erode whether we rebuild those groins or not.” Nourishment does protect but is a temporary solution. It’s not changing the process causing the erosion. Beach nourishment is when sand is taken from a borrow area and pumped onto the beach. The amount of time the new sand lasts on the shoreline is no longer projected to be seven years. Now the project planners are calculating for five years. But that’s not long enough either. The sand from a 2022 beach nourishment in Buxton only lasted two years until more was needed. Corbett’s hypothesis is that nourishment projects are causing the shoreface to steepen 15 to 20 feet from the shoreline. He said he was considering looking further into this untested theory to see if the nourishment areas are becoming more vulnerable. Data available on coastsat.space, which uses satellite imagery to map ocean shorelines, shows how the beach is changing and responding to a beach nourishment project. For south Nags Head, the first nourishment project was in late 2011 or 2012, and data shows that after nourishment, the erosion rate became significantly faster. “You place a lot of sand on the beach, it’s unnatural. Yes, it provides a wider beach, but you also increase that erosion rate,” Corbett said. “I’m not saying this isn’t protecting infrastructure” but it doesn’t stop the process. “Nourishment is a Band-Aid for that real physical process of erosion. It hasn’t slowed the process. It is a temporary solution that has to continue. You don’t do a single nourishment, you develop a nourishment program,” he said. “It’s $20 million today. It’s $20 million in five years.” Ultimately, Corbett said communities need to decide what they want to protect and if they’re willing to accept the tradeoff.
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CRC meets amid debate over NC’s hardened shoreline structures ban
The debate over whether to repeal or amend the state’s ban on hardened structures for shoreline protection resumes this week when the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) meets on Aug. 26 and 27 at the Dare County Government Complex in Manteo. A major catalyst behind the effort to re-examine the ban is the crisis in Buxton, where 32 privately owned oceanfront houses have fallen into the ocean since 2020—with 20 of them collapsing since September 2025, generating national headlines. According to the meeting agenda, the CRC will hear a report from its Science Panel on hardened oceanfront structures. On June 18, the panel presented a 47-page report recommending that the state “maintain a cautious approach to any expansion of the use of hardened structures along its sandy, open-ocean coastline.” It also advised that before changing its oceanfront management policies, the state should “include a broad assessment of the benefits, costs, limitations and distribution of effects” arising from an expanded use of hardened structures. The Outer Banks Voice – CRC panel report recommends ‘cautious approach’ to use of hardened structures. In 1985, the CRC banned hardened structures through regulatory action, followed 15 years later by a ban approved by the state legislature, unless a groin was less than 50 percent damaged. Along with its Buxton beach nourishment project this summer, Dare County is also conducting an $8.6 million project to repair the Buxton terminal groin, work allowed under the state exemption. More Beach to Love | Dare County, NC. In the past year, there has also been a flurry of advocacy to revise or repeal the hardened structure ban coming from Outer Banks communities and officials. In October 2025, the Buxton Civic Association asked residents to contact state officials to lobby for an “immediate exclusion of CAMAs hardened structures law” for Buxton. A month later, Dare County Commissioner Chair Bob Woodard sent a letter to North Carolina legislators asking them to take action to combat coastal erosion, a request that included reconsidering the ban on hardened structures. In May 2026, the Currituck County Commissioners approved a resolution supporting state legislative efforts—NC Senate Bill 1009—to repeal the hardened structures ban. The resolution noted that “North Carolina is one of the only U.S. coastal states with a long-standing ban on hardened structure.” That ban, it added, leaves beach nourishment, which the resolution characterizes as “a costly and temporary solution to erosion…as one of the only tools available to counties to combat coastal erosion.” A committee of the North Carolina Senate approved that legislation to repeal the ban in June. Senate Bill 1009 (2025-2026 Session) – North Carolina General Assembly. Asked about the repeal of the hardened structures ban during a visit to the Outer Banks in late June, Governor Josh Stein said solutions to beach erosion need “to be based in science. There [are] clear emotions that are flying here…We want people’s homes to be preserved. But we have to do it in a way that will make long-term success possible.”
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Odds & Ends
August Ties the Record for Earth’s Hottest Month on the Books
Sweltering summer temperatures put last month on par with July 2023 for global warmth, scientists said. More records could be broken in the months ahead.
Last month tied July 2023 as the planet’s hottest month on record, European scientists said on Thursday, as human-caused warming pushes the Northern Hemisphere’s muggiest, most uncomfortable time of year into new realms of stickiness and discomfort. Dangerous heat hammered Europe for the fifth time since May. Temperatures soared into the triple digits across the southern United States from California to Texas. South Korea recorded its highest temperature reading in modern history: 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the southern city of Yangsan on Aug. 2. August tied the record for the oceans’ hottest month in history as well, scientists said, as El Niño conditions caused warm water to accumulate at the surface of the tropical Pacific. This extra warmth will spread to the rest of the planet in the months ahead, making the globe’s average temperatures likely to break more records through the end of the year and into 2027. “These observations show how climate change is driving extremes across both the atmosphere and the oceans,” said Samantha Burgess, a climate scientist at Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service, which published the analysis of August temperatures. “The impacts of these conditions are increasingly being felt by communities, economies and ecosystems across the world.” August’s sweltering temperatures capped the warmest summer on record for both Western Europe and the contiguous United States. Across the lower 48 states, the average temperature last month was 75.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest on record for August and 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday. Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is also the warmest time of year for the planet as a whole. The reason is that the sun’s energy heats the air above land more than it does the air above water, and most of Earth’s land lies north of the Equator. According to Copernicus, the average air temperature at the planet’s surface last month was 1.65 degrees Celsius, or roughly three degrees Fahrenheit, higher than it was at the start of the industrial age, when large-scale burning of fossil fuels began raising global temperatures. That made August the first month since last November when global warming exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius, an important number in humanity’s efforts to curb climate change. More than a decade ago, nearly all nations agreed at a global summit in Paris to try to keep global warming “well below” two degrees Celsius and, ideally, to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. In a report last week, the United Nations declared that the world would not achieve that second, more ambitious goal and predicted that, within the next few years, average global warming would surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius. By 2100, warming could peak at 1.8 degrees Celsius if governments are highly successful at slowing warming, or at 2.6 degrees Celsius or higher if they aren’t, the report said. The goal now, the U.N. report said, should be to bring temperatures back down as quickly as possible, both by slashing greenhouse gas emissions and by developing novel technologies to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The world also needs to learn to cope more effectively with the elevated risks of intense hot spells, downpours, wildfires and coastal floods that a warmer planet has created, the U.N. said. “This is the spiraling price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction, and the global climate crisis it is fueling,” said Simon Stiell, the head of the U.N. entity that supports the international response to climate change.
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The US just had its hottest summer on record, beating the Dust Bowl era
The United States just had its hottest summer in 132 years of recordkeeping, soundly beating the summer of 1936 — during the Dust Bowl era — as well as the summer of 2021, according to data released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Previously, those two years had tied for the hottest summer. The Dust Bowl summer of 1936 has been long been regarded as the benchmark of hottest summers in the US but has now been equaled or eclipsed twice in the past five years thanks to the influence of human-caused climate change. August 2026 and the June-through-August period both set all-time records, and July was the hottest month of any month on record in the US. The difference between the new and old seasonal records was 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit, which is relatively large for an all-time temperature record. Summer featured widespread above-average temperatures across the Lower 48 states, with well-above-normal nighttime low temperatures throughout the country — largely driven by a series of powerful heat domes that affected nearly every state besides Alaska and Hawaii. The average temperature during August in the Lower 48 states was 75.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 3.5 degrees above the 20th century average. The average for meteorological summer — from June through August — was 74.4 degrees, which was 3 degrees above average. Record-breaking heat was especially present across the Southwest, with Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado each setting records for their warmest summer. The searing season only exacerbated the Colorado River water crisis. One sign of how incredibly hot the summer was can be seen in the balance of record highs to record lows. There were a staggering 1,541 record monthly highs set or tied nationally, compared to just 87 monthly record lows set or tied. In a climate that was not rapidly warming, one would expect the ratio of records to be closer to even. The summer temperature record comes amid a strengthening El Niño in the tropical Pacific, along with the growing effects of long-term climate change. Climate change in particular is leading to more intense, frequent and long-lasting heat waves, while El Niño is further increasing global average temperatures. According to NOAA data, the months of June through August in the US have warmed by about 0.46 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since 1970.
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Previously reported – August 2026
Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says
The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. July averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit (24.94 degrees Celsius) across the Lower 48 states, eclipsing the Dust Bowl’s July 1936 by an eighth of a degree. Records go back to 1895. “It’s not good when you’re breaking records from the Dust Bowl, which we are in this case,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections. “And that was a crazy sort of situation where you put tens of millions of people in motion. You had this great migration because of the drought and the heat that hit the center of the U.S. — just a cataclysmic event in U. S. history. If we’re exceeding records from The Dust Bowl, that says that we’re in deep trouble.” Although it was unusually cool in Alaska, hotter-than-normal conditions blanketed the Lower 48, with the most excessive heat in the Mountain West, Southwest, Northern Plains and Southeast. The heat was so widespread that every one of the Lower 48 states was at least 1 degree Fahrenheit (nearly 0.6 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 20th century average, said Russ Vose, chief of monitoring at NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information. The heat in the Dust Bowl years was more concentrated in parts of the Midwest and was aggravated by agricultural practices at the time, Vose said. What’s happening now is due to the burning of coal, oil and gas, scientists said. “Extremely high temperatures across the continental U.S. this summer, along with intense drought and fire conditions, are absolutely consistent with the climate change signal,’ said Katharine Jacobs, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona. The biggest driver of the record heat was nighttime lows that smashed the old mark for hottest minimums by 0.7 degrees, NOAA said. Hotter nights are a classic sign of human-caused climate change, according to scientists and several studies in peer-reviewed literature. NOAA’s calculation is based on averaging 24 hours of temperature, not just highs or lows. “If you’re talking heat waves, that nighttime low is incredibly important for determining total heat stress,” Masters said. “So if it doesn’t cool off at night, your body doesn’t have time to readjust to all the heat.” As nighttime temperatures increase, more people die and lose sleep, studies show. The years 2021 and 1936 tie for America’s hottest summer, which is June through August. Through July, 2026 is a shade cooler than 2021, which was powered by record heat in June. Because of climate change, Masters said, “this may be one of the coolest years we’re gonna experience for the rest of our lives.” What’s needed, Masters said, is “to stop burning so many fossil fuels. We also need to be spending money to adapt to the new climate that we’ve put in place.”
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July was the hottest month in the US since records began in 1895
July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States, according to data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The month featured long, intense heat domes that led to record hot temperatures from the East Coast to the Plains and Southwestern states. NOAA’s temperature records date back to 1895. By the end of the month, large wildfires were burning in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, mirroring what has been taking place in Europe, which is having its hottest summer on record. July’s average temperature in the Lower 48 states was 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, NOAA reported. This was about 0.1 to 0.2 degrees warmer than July 1936 and July 2012 — the previous record holders — NOAA stated. July tends to be the hottest month of the year in most of the US. More than 600 monthly records for highest maximum and minimum temperatures have been set this year in July across the US. There were fewer than 50 monthly records set on the cool side for temperatures. In any given month those should average out to be even. Climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels has altered this pattern. One feature of the July weather pattern in the US was a seemingly endless series of heat domes that popped up in different parts of the country depending on the contortions of the jet stream. Heat domes act like a lid on a pot, trapping and enhancing hot air beneath them. The jet stream is a narrow corridor of fast-moving air at about 30,000 feet above the Earth’s surface, and it plays a key role in steering and providing energy for weather systems. Long-term, human-caused climate change is making heat waves more intense, longer-lasting and more likely to occur. Last month saw an intense heat wave that enveloped the eastern half of the country through the July 4th holiday weekend, with subsequent rounds of extreme heat that hit after that as well. Above average temperatures stretched across the entirety of the Lower 48 states, with 13 states having monthly average temperatures that ranked in their top-5 warmest Julys. Wyoming had its hottest July and hottest month of any month on record. No state had a ranking near or below average for the month, NOAA found. July has been warming especially rapidly during the past few decades. According to Climate Central, a research and communications nonprofit, in 229 US cities, July temperatures have climbed an average of 2.6 degrees since 1970, with the highest rates of warming occurring in cities in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. Cities that had their warmest Julys include Denver and Salt Lake City, as the Intermountain West had the most significant heat compared to average last month. But many cities across the country had a month that ranked in the top-5 warmest, including Miami, L.A. and Minneapolis. In addition to long-term climate change, a rapidly intensifying El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean is also beginning to be a factor in elevating global average sea and air temperatures and may have played a supporting role in increasing July’s air temperatures across the US. However, studies showed that individual heat waves that struck the country were more connected to climate change plus the natural variability of weather systems than El Niño. July’s extreme heat was not limited to the US, as much of Europe saw multiple heat waves that led to wildfire outbreaks at the end of the month and into early August in Spain, France, the UK, Greece and other countries. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, Western Europe has had its hottest first two months of summer on record so far.
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This and That
Brunswick County and DuPont Chemours Settlement
Brunswick County announced today that The Chemours Company, along with Dupont and Corteva, have officially entered into a $95 million settlement agreement, marking a major milestone in the County’s efforts to receive compensation for major capital investments necessary to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the County’s main source of drinking water. Brunswick County’s settlement is part of a $590 million group settlement agreement, Brunswick County v. DowDuPont, Inc. et. al. (Chemours), which includes the State of Noth Carolina and 10 other local entities in the state. “It’s been a long time coming, but we are proud to stand up for our County and demand what is due for our community,” Brunswick County Chairman Mike Forte said. “We commend all our staff, legal counsel, local leaders, and partner agencies for their tremendous work over the years to ensure that Brunswick County received recognition and compensation for the costly infrastructure improvements we have had to make to combat the PFAS issue in the Cape Fear River.” Of the total $590 million of the settlement, $380 million will go to local entities and $75 million to the State. The remaining $135 million will go to a reserve fund connected to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s 2019 Consent Order to ensure that Chemours or DuPont will continue mandated PFAS cleanup efforts in the Cape Fear River. The finalization of the agreement marks the end of nearly nine years of litigation against Chemours and DuPont. Brunswick County will receive payments over the course of the next eight years. The settlement is front loaded with the County receiving slightly over $24 million in each of the first three years.
Water Alert
THB Newsletter (08/31/26)
Brunswick County Public Utilities Stage 1 Voluntary Conservation Alert
Due to current and projected weather forecasts, as well as reduced system demands, Brunswick County has moved from a Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert to a Stage 1 Voluntary Water Conservation Alert. Under Stage 1, all water usage adjustments become voluntary.
Under a Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert, water system customers are requested to make voluntary adjustments to their water usage habits and to follow the recommended irrigation schedule (see below). The voluntary automatic irrigation schedule applies to automatic sprinkler systems for residential and commercial lawn and landscape irrigation.
Recommended Irrigation Schedule (Voluntary)
Water customers are asked to only water lawns and landscaping with automatic irrigation systems (spray irrigation, drip irrigation, etc.) up to one inch of water per week, between the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. on their designated days.
A full list of recommended water usage adjustments can be found online at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise
Recent rains help but heat has amplified long-dry conditions
Weather forecasts in areas of North Carolina this summer have played like a needle on a scratched vinyl record, bouncing backward in a repeating loop: dry and hot, dry and hot, dry and hot. Well before high temperatures with heat indexes climbing into triple digits smothered the air hanging over portions of the state, coastal counties being no exception, the land beneath our feet was parched. The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council, or DMAC, announced at the beginning of this year that the state was experiencing widespread dry conditions, the result of a drought the origins of which trace back to August 2025. About a week into the new year, 15 of the state’s 20 coastal counties were classified as abnormally dry. By June’s end, Brunswick County Public Utilities customers were placed under mandatory water restrictions. As June turned over to July, drought conditions in that county further deteriorated. Though the western portion of North Carolina’s southernmost coastal county as of Aug. 18 remained under exceptional drought, the highest drought classification, rain since July has relieved dry conditions marginally but enough to prompt the county to ease water, though not completely lift, water use restrictions. North Carolina has since last month started to see some notable rainfall, particularly in the western part of the state and northern part of the coast, said Klaus Albertin, DMAC chair and water resources engineer with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources. “Most areas are starting to see improvements, and a lot of the state, lawns, gardens, agriculture is looking good because we’ve been getting regular rains,” he said. “Not everywhere improves at the same rate. That’s kind of the tough part about the summertime in North Carolina. We’ll get some rains that are really spotty, so you’ll have areas that get 2, 3, 3½ inches, but then, not far away, they may only get a quarter of an inch.” This helped some state reservoirs recover their water levels faster than others. Rainfall in the watershed above Jordan Lake, for example, helped that reservoir bounce back to its target water level within a couple of weeks, Albertin said. Falls Lake, which is a little more than 30 miles northeast of Jordan Lake, hasn’t been as lucky. “It’s going to take some good rains or a lot of smaller, consistent rains to bring all of them back up to where we’d like to see them,” Albertin said. As for aquifers, he said, “I would say, instead of weeks you probably are looking at months, and some of it just takes a while for the water to percolate down into the aquifers.” Gabrielle Chianese, DWR’s Groundwater Resource Branch supervisor, explained that there are portions of the state where groundwater, or superficial aquifer wells, are showing decreases. “However, the deeper aquifers, the only way the drought really impacts those deeper aquifers is due to higher usage,” including lawn irrigation, she said. “That’s when we’ll see impacts to the lower aquifers. But all of these seem to be recovering very well, especially the ones that the deeper aquifers that are being used more, we are seeing recovery in those so that’s good news.” She encourages private well water owners to have their well water tested, a service typically provided by county health departments for a fee. Parts of the state continue to face lingering rainfall deficits despite recent summer storms. As of Aug. 18, Wilmington, for example, was at a 21-inch rain deficit. “It just goes to show that we haven’t really had a whole lot of rain, especially in some parts of the state, since last August,” of 2025, said North Carolina State Climate Office Director Dr. Jared Bowden. And the hot weather much of the state has experienced this summer has only aided and abetted drought conditions. Intense heat paired with dry conditions creates what is called a “hot drought,” which amplifies the loss of moisture in the soil. “If you basically dry out the soil then all the energy goes into heating up that surface and then it gets just hotter, so it feels hotter, and that’s because all the energy goes directly into heating the surface rather than evaporation,” Bowden said. “There’s this coupling process as the atmosphere continues to warm and it becomes thirstier that you get these hotter and drier droughts.” This, he explained, is a fingerprint of the changing climate. According to the State Climate Office, North Carolina over the last 120 years has warmed by about 1 degree Fahrenheit. “This is less than Earth as a whole, which has warmed by nearly two degrees,” the office states. But warming has accelerated in recent decades, with the period between 2009 and 2018 becoming the state’s warmest recorded decade.
Wetter weather patterns ahead?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in early June confirmed that the globe was officially in an El Niño year. El Niño is a recurring weather phenomenon that forms when the sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean are warmer than average. And, Bowden said, its impacts are already being felt. “Hurricanes, like them or not, they do contribute to our climatological rainfall into late fall in particular,” he said. “Basically, El Niño is decreasing the likelihood that we’ll have significant rains from a tropical-like system.” What does that mean for say, Brunswick County? As we move into peak hurricane season, if the probability for a named storm is low, so too is the likelihood of short-term drought relief. “But, as you go into the fall, when El Niño picks up in strength, the impacts are for a wetter winter,” Bowden explained. In fact, in the coming months – October, November and into December – North Carolina could experience similar rain events to those of 2015, when there was in a strong El Niño. “We had our wettest December on record, and the strong El Niño event of 1997 and ’98, we had our wettest winter on record for the state of North Carolina,” Bowden said. “That’s kind of where we’re headed. Ideally, it’s going to be months of needed rain. I mean, of course, you can get the big hurricane — even that would just really put a dent in something like that — but the odds of that type of event are not as likely. It will probably be more steady rainfall over the winter months that would bring places like Wilmington that are currently, over the last year, in 20-inches-plus deficit to get them back to normal. But, the short term is we might stay dry for a little longer across the state.”
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Turtle Watch Program –
Turtle Watch Program – 2026
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The first nest of the 2025 season was on May 21st
Average annual number of nests is 59
Current nest count – (78) as of 09/20/26
Total known eggs = 8,762
Total baby turtles to ocean = 6,957 around 79%
Total number of nests historically
Sea turtles are hatching in near-record numbers in NC this year. Here’s why
Almost 2,000 sea turtle nests have been spotted along North Carolina’s coast this year — the second-most since the state started tracking nests in 2009. North Carolina’s 300-plus miles of coastline are a crucial habitat for endangered turtles, especially loggerhead turtles, the most common species on the state’s beaches. As female turtles have lumbered ashore to lay their eggs, volunteer groups have fanned out along the coastline, helping to spot turtle tracks, count eggs and get hatchlings safely from the dunes to the ocean. “We’re out there every single night, because we have nests hatching every night, and we will into October,” said Terry Meyer, conservation director for the Topsail Turtle Project on Topsail Island. Right now, nesting season is winding down; adult turtles typically lay their eggs from May to August. However, since turtle eggs usually incubate for around 60 days, eggs will likely continue to hatch well into the fall. This year’s surge isn’t completely unexpected, Meyer said. Loggerhead turtles typically lay eggs every two to three years. The state last saw a major uptick in turtle nesting three summers ago, meaning this summer was expected to be a big year for nesting. Still, 2019 holds the record for the most turtle nests in North Carolina. Volunteers counted over 2,300 nests across the state that season, according to data compiled by the Wildlife Resource Commission. This summer’s hot weather has brought one unusual trend to turtle nesting patterns in parts of the state, said Suzan Bell, the volunteer coordinator for the Oak Island Sea Turtle Protection Program. Usually, sea turtle eggs incubate for about 60 days before they hatch and make their way back to the ocean — that’s called an emergence. But research suggests that hot weather can cause the turtles to hatch earlier than expected. Bell said that in Oak Island and surrounding areas, hatchlings have started emerging after 50 days or less. “When there’s excessive heat, it seems that they are starting to emerge much quicker,” Bell said. “Heat just incubates them faster.” This year, Cape Hatteras National Seashore has led the state, with over 400 turtle nests along the shore’s 70 miles of coastline. Cape Lookout National Seashore is close behind, with 320 nests spotted this year. Yet there have also been high numbers counted along smaller stretches of coastline, especially toward the southern end of the state. Oak Island has reported the third-highest number of nests in North Carolina, though Bell’s volunteer group covers just 10 miles of beach. And near the Virginia coastline, turtle nesting in the Outer Banks has surpassed the area’s 2019 record, WHRO Radio in Norfolk reported earlier this week. “Through the efforts of thousands of volunteers, sea turtles are making a comeback. Our nest numbers are getting higher, and I do attribute all that to beach programs,” Bell said. “We’re just trying to educate everyone on the fact of, you know, we need to protect and care for this species. We don’t want to lose it.” Human disruptions, like loud noises or artificial lighting, can keep turtles from nesting. Volunteers advise beachgoers to clean up litter before leaving the beach, avoid using flashlights at night, turn off any outdoor lighting near beachfront homes, and give turtles, nests and hatchlings plenty of space. If you spot a turtle or a nest, you can call local authorities or your area’s sea turtle monitoring group to report the sighting but leave it alone.
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Fauna & Flora –
NC State Native Plant Resources » click here
NC Native Plants for Pollinators » click here
NC Sea Grant Coastal Landscapes » click here
New Hanover County Arboretum Native Plant Garden » click here
Audubon Native Plant Database » click here
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox » click here
Fauna & Flora » click here
Holden Beach recommended plant list – deer resistant & salt tolerant
Factoid That May Interest Only Me
This tiny sticker on your car is a big waste of time and money
States are ditching auto decals to save millions and cut red tape.
Artificial intelligence has many Americans afraid of losing their jobs. Though these fears are understandable, it’s worth noting that some jobs would not exist in the first place were they not for senseless government regulations. A good example is the D.C. city employee at my Department of Motor Vehicles emissions inspection site whose job is to scrape off a sticker on the inside of my windshield and replace it with this year’s edition, thus proving to the outside world that I passed the inspection and paid the required fee. The city gives car owners the job of removing and replacing their vehicle registration sticker, a task which is next to impossible if they took the common anti-theft advice to score it with a razor to make it theftproof. In the digital age, are car stickers really necessary? They aren’t a requirement for other taxes. Imagine having to affix a sticker to the window of your home to signify that you’d paid your property taxes. Or being required to wear a lapel pin on April 15 as a public symbol that you’d paid your income taxes. State and local governments have been obsessed with requiring stickers and license plates on vehicles since the invention of the horseless carriage at the turn of the 20th century. New York was the first state to require registrations for automobiles in 1901. Other state and local governments began adopting registration fees, which some labeled a “privilege tax,” for the privilege of operating a vehicle. I guess that is different from the gas taxes I pay for the privilege of driving on the roads. In 1904, automakers Henry Ford and Horace Dodge sued the city of Detroit over the constitutionality of a $1 registration fee. They claimed it was double taxation because motorists had already paid a tax when they purchased the vehicle. They also said the fee was unjust because owners of horse-drawn vehicles were not required to display identification tags. An added complaint was that children under age 16 were allowed to drive carriages but not automobiles. How quaint. The court rejected their claims and said the fee was constitutional. A complicating factor in the adoption of these registrations and fees was that they were often location-specific and lacked reciprocity with other jurisdictions. In Missouri, state law required a separate registration fee for each county a car was driven in. By one account, in 1906, “the motorist who wished to drive legally in every county of Missouri had to pay $295.50 in registration fees.” The law was later changed to allow for a single statewide registration fee. As of 1910, New Jersey did not recognize New York’s auto registration, so thousands of New Yorkers who had vacation homes on the Jersey Shore had to pay a full year’s registration fee in both states. For many states, these fees were as much about generating revenue as they were about regulating motorized vehicles. The system came with costs, however. Some states sent motorists a new license plate every year, changing the color annually so that police could tell which cars were up-to-date. That practice was eventually replaced with a cheaper yearly sticker that car owners were required to affix to the license plate. By 1974, many states relied on stickers. After more than a century of managing these arcane and outdated rules, a growing number of states are going electronic and sticker-free. New Jersey was the first to ditch its vehicle decals in 2004. One cited reason was sticker theft. Connecticut followed in 2010 because technology made registration stickers unnecessary, saving the state hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Pennsylvania stopped in 2017. A Pennsylvania State study found the change had zero effect on how many drivers stayed current on their registration, and it saved the state $1.1 million a year on tag production and another $2 million on mailing them out. This year, Idaho joined the no-registration-sticker club, saving the state about $300,000 annually. North Carolina is moving to an electronic system starting Oct. 1, eliminating printing and mailing costs that total $4.8 million annually. The anti-sticker movement hasn’t always been successful. A bill in the Minnesota House of Representatives to repeal vehicle registration stickers died in committee, as did a similar bill in the Florida legislature to eliminate the state’s yellow validation decal. Supporters said the Florida proposal could have saved taxpayers some $24 million annually. It passed the state’s House 93-17 but died in the Senate. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Tom Fabricio, touted its impact on modernizing the process: “It cuts the yellow tape, reduces the burden on every Floridian and brings our registration system into the 21st century.” AI may not be driving these trends, but more state lawmakers should be encouraged to recognize that car stickers and decals are an obsolete and costly vestige of an age when automobiles shared the road with horse-drawn carriages. If repealing such requirements means fewer city workers at the DMV replacing stickers by hand, well, welcome to the modern age.
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Editor’s note –
North Carolina does not issue physical inspection stickers, and the state is moving to an entirely digital system that eliminates physical license plate stickers starting October 1, 2026.
Ding! Ding! Ding! The long, strange fight over your car’s seat-belt chime.
The reminders can annoy, but they also save lives. So why have regulators taken years to tighten rules for new vehicles?
David Kidd is an expert in something that some people hate and others tend to just tolerate: Seat-belt warning systems — the “ding ding ding” chimes and flashing dashboard lights that serve as reminders to buckle up. He’s spent years testing different systems in cars and trucks as part of his work at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. So he knows very well that the incessant chimes can be annoying. They’re “an irritant,” he admits. But he prefers a different term. “We use the word ‘motivating,’” Kidd said. The lowly seat belt is still considered the best way to avoid serious injury or death in a crash. Forget air bags, anti-lock braking systems or any other new-fangled safety technology. Unbelted occupants are roughly twice as likely to be killed in a car crash. Buckling up works. So does nagging. Kidd’s research found that belt warnings came in a variety of tones and volumes, but if they are “heard and persistent,” people respond. The seat-belt chime is such a recognizable refrain that when pop star Olivia Rodrigo needed an iconic car sound to open her hit song “Drivers License” a few years ago, she reportedly used a recording of the seat-belt beep in her mom’s car. The “buckle up” reminders were set to become even more widespread this month, when new federal safety regulations were supposed to require more persistent chimes not just for the driver’s seat but for the front passenger seat, as well. But automakers objected, saying they couldn’t be ready in time. Regulators backed down. So the new rules have been delayed for another two years — 2028 at the earliest — when some rear-seat warnings would be required, too. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement that it found the automakers’ worries “have merit.” Others were not convinced. “It was a bit of mystery to us why this has taken so long already. And now it’s going to take even longer,” said Peter Kurdock, general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which began pushing for the new rules in 2007. “It’s disappointing,” he said. The technology is not cutting-edge. Europe has required seat-belt alarms in new vehicles since 2021. Some automakers, such as Volvo and Subaru, already have voluntarily installed them in vehicles sold in the U.S.
But the fight over the warning chimes feeds into Americans’ long-running love-hate relationship with seat belts. Seat belts are still seen by some as a question of choice and freedom. State laws and education campaigns have helped soften some of those attitudes. Today, 49 states require adults in the front to buckle up. The lone holdout is New Hampshire, which lives up to its license plate motto of “Live Free or Die.” Just 34 states plus D.C. require adults to wear seat belts in rear seats. (Children are covered by different restraining-device requirements.) Still, researchers know some people remain militant in their opposition. They’re the ones buying $6 devices and printing 3D tools to fool the alarm. They sit on top of buckled seat-belt straps. They watch online videos claiming to reveal the hidden tricks to deactivate the warning chimes. “Those that don’t like seat belts are really hardcore against buckling up,” Kurdock said. These holdouts are why U.S. seat-belt usage rates have largely flat-lined in the last decade, according to NHTSA observational studies. The unbuckled make up a minority of all vehicle occupants, but they die at a much higher rate in crashes: Roughly half of all vehicle fatalities involve unbuckled occupants. At one point, federal officials tried a much tougher tactic than just chimes. In 1974, the federal government required many cars to have ignition interlock devices that prevented a car from even starting until the front occupants were buckled up. Motorists hated it. It blew up in NHTSA’s face. “That got a lot of blowback that reached Congress,” Kidd said. The idea was quickly pulled, and Congress banned NHTSA from requiring interlocks. Lawmakers then went further and limited seat-belt warning chimes to a fleeting eight seconds. Some advocates say this is why NHTSA has seemed reluctant ever since to even tinker with seat-belt warnings. In 2007, Public Citizen and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety petitioned NHTSA to change the belt-reminder rules and add them for rear seats. Little happened for years. In 2012, Congress passed a bill that abolished the eight-second chime limit and required federal officials to create new warning rules for seating positions besides the driver’s seat. It was a start, but a very slow one. “The chime is very important,” said Shaun Kildare, research director for the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. While NHTSA worked on a plan, the lack of government action created an opening for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which rates vehicles on a series of safety metrics. It began rating cars and trucks on the quality of their seat-belt reminders with the 2021 model year. IIHS wants seat-belt chimes to last at least 90 seconds and be easy to hear, among other criteria. The chimes should annoy drivers enough to get them to buckle up — but not so much that they complain. “It was: Get them to wear a seat belt, but at the same time not email their congressperson to demand a change,” Kidd said. Compliance has been voluntary, but some automakers have jumped at the chance to make a good showing. IIHS saw rapid adoption, even without federal regulations, Kidd said. At first, less than 20 percent of vehicles scored IIHS’s top “good” ranking for seat-belt reminders. Five years later, 71 percent of vehicles qualified. “You’ve had a complete change in the seat belt reminders in the new vehicles,” he said. In 2025 — 13 years after Congress asked for a plan — NHTSA finally unveiled its blueprint for overhauling the nation’s seat-belt warning system. The new rules will require a chime lasting at least 30 seconds for either an unbuckled driver or front passenger when the vehicle starts up, and if they are still unbuckled when the vehicle reaches slightly faster than 6 mph, a second chime will play endlessly until the seat belt is secured. That’s the rule that was supposed to hit new vehicles on Sept. 1. A rule requiring a 30-second chime if someone unbuckled a seat belt in the rear seats was set to start in September 2027. But in April, NHTSA acquiesced to arguments from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, that the changes “require significant hardware and software changes” and would need more testing. Now, regulations for both front- and rear-seat warnings are being pushed back to September 2028. Despite the delay, automakers still “support efforts to increase seat belt use and for decades have voluntarily and proactively installed seat belt reminder systems across the vehicle fleet,” Audrey LaForest, communications director for the Alliance, said in a statement last week. Kurdock, whose group first petitioned for this change nearly 20 years ago, was in disbelief. “This is not a new technology. Seat-belt reminders have been in cars for a very long time,” he said. Kidd said he was frustrated with what he saw as an unnecessary delay. He has estimated that nearly 1,600 lives could be saved annually if all vehicles had more noticeable and persistent seat-belt warnings leading to more people buckling up. “The disappointing piece is we’ve known what to do for a long time,” he said, “but we just haven’t done it.”
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Storm Events
Hurricane Vehicle Decals
Property owners were provided with four (4) decals that were included in there water bill. It is important that you place your decals in your vehicle or in a safe place. A $10 fee will be assessed to anyone who needs to obtain either additional or replacement decals. Decals will not be issued in the 24-hour period before an anticipated order of evacuation.
The decals are your passes to get back onto the island to check your property in the event that an emergency would necessitate restricting access to the island. Decals must be displayed in the driver side lower left-hand corner of the windshield, where they are not obstructed by any other items. Officials must be able to clearly read the decal from outside the vehicle.
Property owners without a valid decal will not be allowed on the island during restricted access. No other method of identification is accepted in an emergency situation. Click here to visit the Town website to find out more information regarding decals and emergency situations.
NC General Statute 166A-19.22
Power of municipalities and counties to enact ordinances to deal with states of emergency.
Synopsis – The governing body may impose by declaration or enacted ordinance, prohibitions, and restrictions during a state of emergency. This includes the prohibition and restriction of movements of people in public places, including imposing a curfew; directing or compelling the voluntary or mandatory evacuation of all or part of the population, controlling ingress and egress of an emergency area, and providing for the closure of streets, roads, highways, bridges, public vehicular areas. All prohibitions and restrictions imposed by declaration or ordinance shall take effect immediately upon publication of the declaration unless the declaration sets a later time. The prohibitions and restrictions shall expire when they are terminated by the official or entity that imposed them, or when the state of emergency terminates.
Violation – Any person who violates any provisions of an ordinance or a declaration enacted or declared pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Hot Button Issues
Subjects that are important to people and about which they have strong opinions
Climate
For more information » click here.
There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
Flood Insurance Program
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National Flood Insurance Program: Reauthorization
Congress must periodically renew the NFIP’s statutory authority to operate. On February 3, 2026, the president signed legislation passed by Congress that extends the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) authorization to September 30, 2026.
Congress must now reauthorize the NFIP
by no later than 11:59 pm on September 30, 2026.
GenX
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Homeowners Insurance
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Homeowners are paying much more for insurance —
and keeping coverage is getting harder
Homeowners insurance costs are swelling rapidly for consumers — and even for those able to pay, policies are getting harder to keep as insurers drop customers at a higher rate, according to a new industry report. Average premiums for homeowners insurance rose faster than inflation across all major regions of the country from 2018 to 2024, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group that represents state insurance regulators. Consumers saw their average premiums rise by 18% in the Northeast, 25% in the Midwest, 27% in the Southeast and 43% in the West over that seven-year period, even after accounting for inflation, according to the report, which broke out data across four regional zones. Average premiums were highest in the Southeast, at $1,818 per year in 2024, while those in the Northeast were lowest at $1,396, NAIC said. Premiums have risen another 7% since the beginning of 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index. The index doesn’t necessarily reflect consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, but provides a proxy for the movement of premiums over time, according to the National Association of Realtors. The report, compiled with data from state insurance agencies, was the group’s first comprehensive data analysis of the homeowners insurance market in several years, NAIC officials said. Climate change, rising home rebuilding costs and other factors have driven up financial risk for insurers, who are passing that financial burden on to consumers, at least in part, insurance experts said. Meanwhile, the dynamic is straining homeowners amid a broader affordability crunch and a U.S. inflation rate that has been above policymakers’ target for more than five years. People’s ability to afford a home is about 10% lower than it would otherwise be if insurance costs had remained stable since the late 1990s, according to NAR. The expense disproportionately burdens low-income households, who are more likely to drop their coverage altogether — and put their house, often their largest financial asset, at risk if disaster strikes, said Peter Kochenburger, an insurance expert and a visiting professor of law at Southern University Law Center. “It’s a big problem,” Kochenburger said of rising costs for consumers. The NAIC analysis also showed that insurers are dropping customers at elevated rates, opting not to renew their policies when their terms expire. This generally happens when an insurer thinks the risk outweighs their profit potential, Kochenburger said. Nonrenewal rates per 1,000 in-force policies have increased across the country since 2018, by anywhere from 96% in the Southeast to 216% in the West, NAIC found. These nonrenewals are those initiated by insurance companies. There were 103 million homeowners insurance policies in force in the U.S. as of 2024, according to NAIC. “The data tells the story of a homeowners insurance market that is overall operationally robust but nonetheless under pressure and exhibiting signs of stress,” the report’s co-authors, Jeffrey Czajkowski and Paula Harms, wrote. “These trends support consumer sentiment that coverage is becoming more expensive and harder to find or keep in some places,” they wrote.
Why homeowners insurance costs are rising
The report’s findings broadly echo those of other analyses in recent years. The U.S. Treasury Department, for example, said in a report last year that average premiums per policy increased 8.7% faster than the rate of inflation from 2018 to 2022. A poll conducted this year by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan research group, found that 42% of homeowners said their costs had gone up “a lot” in recent years. Consumers generally buy homeowners insurance as a form of financial protection against unexpected physical damage to their house. Mortgage lenders also often require prospective homebuyers to buy such an insurance policy to secure a loan. If homeowners insurance becomes too pricey for consumers, there could be a “cascading or domino effect” in the U.S. economy — for example, if fewer people choose to buy homes, Kochenburger said. He said he thinks climate risk is the main driver of rising premiums. Climate change has fueled an increase in the number — and intensity — of severe weather events like wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and floods. The dynamic increases the likelihood that policyholders will need to file insurance claims and the odds that those claims will be for higher amounts, experts said. The number of weather and climate disasters that caused more than $1 billion in damage increased more than fivefold from 2018 through 2022, compared with the 1980s, after adjusting for inflation, according to the Treasury Department. “Catastrophic risk — these hurricanes, wildfire, severe convective storms, winter storms — these are events that are happening more and more frequently,” Czajkowski, director of the NAIC Center for Insurance Policy and Research, told CNBC in an interview. “And they’re impacting consumers.” The elevated risk comes as the Trump administration has moved to dismantle the federal government’s efforts to fight climate change and reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. While those natural disasters are more obvious in certain parts of the country — wildfires in the West and hurricanes in the Southeast, for example — weather-related risks are growing throughout the country, Kochenburger said. “Hail is a significant source of property damage, and that occurs in a number of states that don’t have much coastal exposure,” he said, as an example. However, factors beyond climate risk also contribute to higher insurance costs. For example, inflation has increased the cost of repairing and rebuilding homes, thereby raising the amount insurers pay out when policyholders file an insurance claim, experts said. Replacement costs for property and casualty-related losses increased by 45%, on average, between 2020 and 2023, according to the Treasury Department. Homeowners insurance is a type of property and casualty insurance. The NAIC data may even undersell the scope of the issue. For one, since the report only breaks out costs by regional zones, it’s “likely” that there are smaller, local areas where premiums have risen much faster than a particular region, according to the NAIC report. It’s also “quite possible” policyholders reduced coverage to blunt the impact of rising premiums, “which would likely show up in the data as a decrease or no change in premium,” it said. Insurers have also generally made their policies less comprehensive over the years, perhaps by removing certain risks from a general homeowners policy or reducing the dollar limits for certain coverage, Kochenburger said.
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Hurricane Season
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Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30
El Niño has broken Atlantic hurricanes. Now the season is breaking records
No hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic Ocean 103 days into the season, a new record-long wait driven by a beast of an El Niño strangling fledgling storms. Until today, September 11 was the date of the latest first hurricanes — Gustav (2002) and Humberto (2013). Or at least, the latest we know with confidence since 1966, when satellites started tracking hurricanes more accurately. The first hurricane is now more than a month overdue, and there are no prospects for one in the foreseeable future. Thursday marked the statistical peak of the season, and with just five short-lived tropical storms to date, it is now also the least active one since 1950, according to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert with Colorado State University. The only system that made a run at becoming a hurricane was tiny Tropical Storm Edouard on September 1. Edouard was 14 mph shy of hurricane strength and intensifying when it made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border, cutting it off from the Gulf’s warm water fuel. Looking forward, just over 50% of the entire season’s activity typically occurs after September 10, but El Niño will likely have a say in stifling the Atlantic’s final stretch this year. Last year’s first hurricane showed up in mid-August, and three more spun up in the second half of September. The United States managed to avoid a hurricane landfall last year — if the current quiet season repeats that, it’ll be the first back-to-back years without a hurricane landfall since 2009 and 2010. But it’s worth noting that hurricanes can find windows of opportunity to develop even in the most inactive years – and not a single season since 1966 has gone by without one. Most notably, Category 5 Hurricane Andrew’s catastrophic South Florida landfall in August 1992 happened in a season with just seven storms.
El Niño’s hurricane shredder
September is hurricane season’s peak because storm-fueling warm water is at its most expansive and hottest alongside ripe atmospheric factors. About two to three hurricanes develop this month on average. The results can be dangerous, as 2024’s Helene and 2022’s Ian proved, slamming the US Gulf Coast as Category 4s. Water temperatures are warm enough for hurricanes right now, but El Niño-fueled wind shear, aka tropical-system kryptonite, has soured the situation. Wind shear involves changes in wind speed and direction at different levels of the atmosphere, and it can shred apart anything from budding tropical systems to fully developed hurricanes. The shear has been record-strong this summer across the Atlantic’s so-called main development region, which extends from Africa through the Caribbean, according to Klotzbach. Many storms get their start in this region at the height of the season — mid-August to early October — but this year it’s been nearly shutdown. Tropical Storm Dolly is the only system that has formed in this part of the ocean so far in 2026, and a wall of wind shear ripped it apart just 24 hours later. A few other systems have tried to develop but were also defeated by shear. El Niño’s storm-killing winds will remain an obstacle for development in hurricane season’s back stretch, though that’s no reason to get complacent. Plus, late-season storms tend to develop closer to the US, including in the Gulf and off the Southeast coast. Those areas tend to be affected less by El Niño’s wind shear, so they’ll be watched closely. And as we’ve already learned this year, it doesn’t take a hurricane-strength system to cause significant impacts, particularly in a warming world making tropical systems wetter. Tropical Storm Arthur’s remnants fueled widespread flooding along the central Gulf Coast in June. Cottonport, Louisiana, was drenched by 29.06 inches of rain in 24 hours, which obliterated the previous state record of 22 inches set back in 1962. The record is still being reviewed and certified. Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Edouard less than two weeks ago resulted in dangerous flash flooding and water rescues in eastern Texas. A month’s worth of rain fell in an hour and rainfall totals topped 20 inches in some areas north of Beaumont.
Read more » click here
Inlet Hazard Areas
For more information » click here
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Lockwood Folly Inlet
For more information » click here.
Seismic Testing / Offshore Drilling
For more information » click here.
Offshore Wind Farms
For more information » click here
Things I Think I Think
Eating out is one of the great little joys of life.
Restaurant Review:
Ratings reflect the reviewer’s reaction to food, ambience, and service, with price taken into consideration.
///// June 2026
Name: Oak & Anchor
Cuisine: American
Location: 19 Clubhouse Drive, Supply NC
Contact: 910.842.4544 / https://lockwoodfolly.com/restaurant/
Food: Average / Very Good / Excellent / Exceptional
Service: Efficient / Proficient / Professional / Expert
Ambience: Drab / Plain / Distinct / Elegant
Cost: $15 Inexpensive <=20 / Moderate <=26 / Expensive <=35 / Exorbitant <=60
Rating: Two Stars
The Oak & Anchor is located in the clubhouse of Lockwood Folly Country Club, just three miles from the Holden Beach bridge, and offers casual indoor and outdoor waterfront dining with panoramic views of the Lockwood Folly River and Intracoastal Waterway. Open to the public for breakfast and lunch daily, the restaurant also serves dinner on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
The Oak & Anchor is temporarily closed in October during its transition to new management.
Name: Seabird
Cuisine: Seafood
Location: 1 South Front Street, Wilmington, NC
Contact: 910.769.5996 / https://www.seabirdnc.com/
Food: Average / Very Good / Excellent / Exceptional
Service: Efficient / Proficient / Professional / Expert
Ambience: Drab / Plain / Distinct / Elegant
Cost: $32 Inexpensive <=20 / Moderate <=26 / Expensive <=35 / Exorbitant <=60
Rating: Three Stars
The seafood restaurant and oyster bar are located at the intersection of Front Street and Market Street, right in the very heart of Wilmington’s historic downtown. The restaurant is aesthetically pleasing with clean lines, there are floor to ceiling windows, which is accented by blues and white, giving the space a calming, coastal feel that is both retro and modern. Those big windows are also great for people watching at the bustling downtown intersection. Seabird celebrates the seasonality of the seafood and ingredients found in North Carolina. They have a very limited menu, divided into Small Plates with eight (8) choices and Large Plates that only offers six (6) entrée choices with no additional daily specials. They exceeded our expectations, what a delightful dining experience. I would recommend putting it on your short-list of must try restaurants.
Acclaimed Wilmington chef expands Seabird with new restaurant
More details have been announced about what’s happening at the renovation project at 9 S. Front St. in downtown Wilmington, beside Seabird restaurant. For months, award-winning Chef Dean Neff has been planning a sister restaurant. Little Bird is expected to open in early 2027. “It is really kind of an expansion of Seabird in a way,” Neff said. Little Bird will add about 2,200 square feet to Seabird’s existing 2,600, nearly doubling the footprint, according to a press release. That’s also an additional 55-60 seats in a new dining room and a separate bar room. Neff said he’s also excited about adding more kitchen and storage space. Neff said Seabird quickly reached capacity for the back-of-the-house operations, especially since they use so many fresh, local ingredients. He also said the new space will offer more options for events and new experiences. “We can’t wait to bring this historic space to life for the Wilmington community in the new year,” Neff said. After opening Seabird in 2021, Neff and his wife Lydia Clopton turned their attention to Zora’s Market and Kitchen, which launched a new menu earlier this year. Neff is also a James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef finalist and Best Chef Southeast nominee. The renovation at Little Bird has been a project with James Goodnight, Old School Rebuilders and Smith Hanes Studio.
Read more » click here
Dining Guide – Local * Lou’s Views
Dining Guide – North * Lou’s Views
Dining Guide – South * Lou’s Views
Restaurant Reviews – North * Lou’s Views
Restaurant Reviews – South * Lou’s Views
Book Review:
Read several books from The New York Times best sellers fiction list monthly
Selection represents this month’s pick of the litter
RANSOM by Daniel Silva
In the twenty-sixth installment of the Gabriel Allon series, the retired art restorer, assassin, and former chief of Israel’s intelligence service is pulled back into the perilous world he believed he had left behind. When a British socialite and social media star vanishes while on holiday, her billionaire husband turns to Gabriel for help. What starts as a private search for a missing woman quickly unravels into a far-reaching global conspiracy.
That’s it for this newsletter
See you next month
Lou’s Views . HBPOIN
Lou’s Views
“Unofficial” Minutes & Comments
BOC’s Regular Meeting 08/18/26
Board of Commissioners’ Agenda Packet » click here
Audio Recording » click here
1. Consent Agenda Items
a) Police Report – Chief Barger
Agenda Packet – pages 13 – 21
Police Report » click here
b) Inspections Department Report – Inspections Director Evans
Agenda Packet – pages 22 – 25
Inspections Report » click here
c) Finance Department Report – Finance Officer McRainey
Agenda Packet – pages 26 – 28
Finance Report » click here
d) Public Works Department Report – Public Works Director Benton
Agenda Packet – pages 29 – 30
Public Works Report » click here
The Board approved the consent agenda items
2. Discussion and Possible Action on Amended Fund Balance Policy – Town Manager Chadwick
. a. Resolution 26-09, Resolution Amending the Fund Balance Policy
Agenda Packet – pages 31 – 35
Fund Balance Policy/Resolution 26-09 » click here
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and possible action approving an update to the Fund Balance Policy.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The current general fund balance policy states the fund balance will be maintained with a balance of 40 to 70 percent. If the audited fund balance is more than 70 percent and the BOC chooses to continue this policy, the funds over 70 percent will be transferred to the Beach & Inlet Capital Reserve Fund.
At the last meeting, I recommended a transfer and explained in the cover sheet that I would be recommending updates to the current fund balance policy.
With an increase in capital needs being discussed, funding trends making it more difficult for federal and state funding to be obtained and some longer wait times to receive reimbursement, there is a definite need to increase fund balance if those needs arise.
I am recommending the following updates to the current policy:
Previously reported – July 2026
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and possible action approving a transfer from the General Fund fund balance to the Beach and Inlet Reserve Fund.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The current general fund balance policy states the fund balance will be maintained with a balance of 40 to 70 percent. If the audited fund balance is more than 70 percent and the BOC chooses to continue this policy, the funds will be transferred to the Beach and Inlet Reserve Fund.
The last audited fund balance amount of the general fund was $3,410,317 which was 82% fund balance. To reduce the fund balance to the 70 percent threshold, the amount to be transferred is $499,070.
Please note I will be recommending a change to the fund balance policy in the future. To account for federal and state funding trends, I will recommend the balance be maintained at 50 to 100 percent. Anything over 100 percent will be transferred to the Beach and Inlet Fund.
Editor’s note –
It shall be the Fund Balance Policy of the Town of Holden Beach to maintain a minimum of 40% and a maximum of 70% of unassigned fund balance in the General Fund.
The Fund Balance Policy has been in place for eight years and directs how excess General Fund dollars, including unspent property tax revenue, are to be used. The original policy set aside excess funds for future beach nourishment projects. The current Board requested further discussion with the Town Manager before transferring any funds. A motion was made for Town staff to review the policy and present recommended changes to the Board at the next regular meeting.
Update –
The current Fund Balance Policy requires the General Fund to maintain an unassigned fund balance of at least 40% and no more than 70%. The Board agreed to revise the policy to establish a minimum of 50% and a maximum of 100%. Any funds exceeding 100% will be transferred to the Beach & Inlet Capital Reserve Fund.
A decision was made – Approved unanimously
3. Discussion and Possible Approval of Amended Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Schedule – Town Clerk Finnell
Agenda Packet – pages 36 – 37
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and Possible Approval of Amended Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Schedule
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
Due to scheduling conflicts with the October regular meeting date, it is recommended that the Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Schedule be updated . The proposed new date for the regular meeting is October 27th.
The suggested motion is to approve the amended Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Schedule.
Update –
The Board rescheduled the BOC’s Regular meeting from October 20th to October 27th.
A decision was made – Approved unanimously
4. Discussion and Possible Action on Audit Committee Vacancies – Town Clerk Finnell
Agenda Packet – pages 38 – 40
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and Possible Action on Audit Committee Vacancies
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
Section 30.27 of the Code of Ordinance requires the Audit Committee to be comprised of a minimum of three full members. The applicant selected at the July meeting did not accept the appointment so currently there are only two members serving on the committee . There are no remaining applicants from the last round of interviews the Board conducted . If the Board agrees, staff can solicit interest from the community and schedule a special meeting for September 15th at 4:45 p.m. to interview applicants.
§ 30.27 AUDIT COMMITTEE.
(A) Creation, name and number of members. There is hereby established an Audit Committee which shall be comprised of not less than three or more than four residents or property owners of the town as full members , plus one alternate.
Update –
There are two vacancies on the Audit Committee: one regular member seat and one alternate member seat. The consensus of the Board was to proceed with filling the vacancies. Interviews will be scheduled at a Special Meeting on September 15th prior to the BOC’s Regular Meeting.
THB Newsletter (08/21/26)
Volunteers Needed
The Town’s Audit Committee has vacancies and is looking for volunteers. Click here to view information on the committee. Interviews for the committee will be held on Tuesday, September 15th at 4:45 p.m. Click here to access an application if you are interested in applying to serve. Completed applications can be emailed to heather@hbtownhall.com or dropped off at Town Hall prior to September 4th.
5. Town Manager Report – Town Manager Chadwick
Town Manager Report » click here
Bryan reviewed the Town Manager Report
Ocean Boulevard Stormwater
The stormwater project is underway in coordination with NCDOT
Project drawings are not yet available
Previously reported – July 2026
Environmental evaluations and design level activities for both project areas continue
Field assessments heading toward regulatory confirmation
Survey team will pick up environmental flag locations to add to base map
Internal construction sheet reviews will begin over the next several days
Coordination with NCDOT
Previously reported – June 2025
The Town was awarded $2.2M in Environmental Infrastructure Disaster Relief Funding for stormwater projects. To get started USACE requires the execution of the Project Partnership Agreement. The Town portion of the 2.2 million dollar project is 25%, which would cost us $550,000. The motion was made to approve the project partnership agreement with the USACE and have the town staff execute the paperwork.
Block Q Master Plan
Block Q stakeholder meetings have been completed. The BOC’s work session and Parks and Recreation Board input meetings have been scheduled.
Block Q Stage Area
The Block Q Stage dedication and ribbon cutting will be held September 4th at 11:00 a.m.
Previously reported – July 2026
Building is completed and in full use
They hosted the first concert there on Sunday, July 5th
Town staff worked diligently with the contractor to get this completed.
Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP)
Meetings have been held with the engineer, grant administrator, and CAT team
They are still identifying possible projects that qualify
Previously reported – July 2026
Survey is on Town website to help identify potential projects
Previously reported – June 2026
We are in Phase 2 which includes the following: Planning, Project Identification, and Prioritization
Previously reported – May 2026
The Town is currently participating in the 2025 – 2026 cycle of the North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP). The RCCP is a community-based initiative that greatly benefits from involvement, engagement and feedback among local stakeholders. Click here to view details on the program.
Previously reported – April 2025
N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program » click here
The RCCP is a four-phase program designed to:
The four phases are :
North Carolina Division of Coastal Management is accepting applications from eligible communities for no-cost technical assistance to complete Phases I and 2 of the Resilient Coastal Communities Program. The motion was made to complete an application to Resilient Coastal Communities Program by the deadline of April 25th, if it is at all possible.
Canal Dredging
Plans are being made to dredge canals this coming winter
Staff is working on alternative disposal site
Staff is actively working with the Corps on the cost of dredge spoils disposal
Pier Property Site
Mid-Atlantic is supposed to start the pier underwater survey next week
Inlet Hazard Area
Staff will be attending the Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) meeting on August 26th and proposed changes to the Inlet Hazard Areas is on the agenda
Hot Button Items / Inlet Hazard Areas
For more information » click here
Dredging Area Maintenance
USACE is still conducting maintenance work at dredge spoil area DA293 which is off Sailfish
Fire Station
The Town is preparing an Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for engineering and design services for the new fire station
Editor’s note –
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is a document that asks potential suppliers or vendors to detail their background and experience providing a specific good or service. In this case, the buyer is only concerned about the vendor’s skills and experience. Professionals responding will be selected solely based on their qualifications and not on price. Once a firm is selected the Town will negotiate a contract for the desired services. Therefore, the response is not a bid.
Previously reported – July 2025
The Planning Department is working on plans for a new fire station. Director Tim Evans talked to the State Fire Marshal and confirmed that the proposed fire station is the appropriate size, is in the appropriate location, and has the right staffing for a community of our size.
Previously reported – August 2025
Timbo gave a slide presentation that reviewed the justifications and requirements for a new fire station on the island at an estimated total cost of $3,375,000. He recommended that we should put the fire station project into the Capital Improvement Plan which will improve our Community Rating System. The improved Community Rating System ratings could get us additional savings on our insurance premium rates. The motion was made to put the fire station project into the Capital Improvement Plan as an unfunded requirement.
Fire Station Presentation » click here
Crosswalks
The Town is working on crosswalk enhancements and the addition of new crosswalks at other locations. Funding is now available at no cost to the Town.
Editor’s note –
Beach Access Points
Staff are working on identifying emergency access points on the west end of the island
Currently the farthest west emergency access is at the 800 block
Strategic Planning
The Strategic Planning session is expected to be held at the end of October or the beginning of November
National Beach Sweep
The Town will be participating in the National Beach Sweep on September 18th and 19th
Shag Lessons
The Town is accepting names for an interest list for shag lessons beginning October 9th and running for six weeks
Bake-Off
Residents are invited to prepare a dessert for the Bake-Off on September 16th
Stuff the Patrol Truck
The Police Department will collect school supplies at Sunday’s concert
No Wake Zone
The Town had requested a No Wake Zone in the Intracoastal Waterway from Blockade Runner Drive to Roger Street. Wildlife officials indicated they would approve the area from Rothschild Street to Conch Street, which is smaller than requested. Approval from USACE is still needed.
National Day of Service
The 25th anniversary of 9/11 is approaching. In remembrance, Town of Holden Beach departments will hold a stair-climbing competition with the Town of Shallotte
In Case You Missed It
Father and son die after ocean rescue at Holden Beach
On Sunday morning (August 2, 2026), a father and his son drowned in a swimming incident while vacationing at Holden Beach. The victims were identified as Daniel Jason Roberts, 46, and his son, Dylan Daniel Roberts, 20. Reports indicate the son entered the water to try and save his father who appeared to be in distress. Emergency crews responded to the 1100 block of Ocean Boulevard West after Brunswick County Communications received reports of two people struggling in the water. Both men received advanced life support but were pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not confirmed whether a rip current caused the deaths, though weather reports showed moderate to high rip current risk that weekend.
National Flood Insurance Program: Reauthorization
Congress must periodically renew the NFIP’s statutory authority to operate. On February 3, 2026, the president signed legislation passed by Congress that extends the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) authorization to September 30, 2026.
News from Town of Holden Beach
The town sends out emails of events, news, agendas, notifications and emergency information. If you would like to be added to their mailing list, please go to their web site to complete your subscription to the Holden Beach E-Newsletter.
For more information » click here
What He Did Not Say
Remind everyone it’s Hurricane Season – be prepared, have a plan!
Public Service Announcements
If you know something, hear something, or see something –
call 911 and let the police deal with it.
A reminder of the Town’s beach strand ordinances:
…..1) Chapter 90 / Animals / §90.20 / Responsibilities of owners
…….a) pets are not allowed on the beach strand except between 5p.m. and 9a.m. daily
…….b) dog’s must be on a leash at all times
…….c) owner’s need to clean up after their animals
…..2) Chapter 94 / Beach regulations / §94.05 / Digging of holes on beach strand
…….a) digging holes greater than 12 inches deep without responsible person there
…….b) holes shall be filled in prior to leaving
…..3) Chapter 94 / Beach regulations / §94.06 / Placing obstructions on the beach strand
…….a) all unattended beach equipment must be removed daily by 6:00pm
For a full list of beach regulations visit https://hbtownhall.com/visitors.
Low Speed Vehicle Safety » click here
Public Service Announcement from Chief Dixon regarding low speed vehicle safety.
Police Chief encourages everyone to download the app
NC Police Connect on the AppStore
Upcoming Events
2026 Concert Schedule
The 2026 concert schedule is now available. Enjoy the sounds of summer at our FREE concert series. Concerts are held on Sundays at 6:30 p.m. throughout the summer.
Click here to view the schedule.
Beginning May 24th and continuing through September 6th
HBPOA Labor Day Meeting
HBPOA meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 5th at Town Hall
6. Public Comments on General Items
The new public restrooms do not have any clear signage identifying the building or directing people to the facilities. While the parking sign indicates that short-term free parking is available for restroom users, there does not appear to be any other indication of what the building is for. Without signage, it is unclear how the public would know if the restrooms are available. Anecdotally, this seems to be the case, as most activity still appears to be centered around the old bathrooms. At a minimum, I would recommend placing a sign on each side of the building. It may also be prudent to add signs along Jordan Boulevard directing visitors toward the restrooms. Given the significant investment in these facilities, I do not think they should remain underutilized simply because the public is unaware they are there.
General Comments
HBPOA Labor Day Meeting
HBPOA meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 5th at Town Hall.
BOC’s Meeting
The Board of Commissioners’ next Regular Meeting is scheduled on the third Tuesday of the month, September 15th
THB Newsletter (08/17/26)
Brunswick County Moves from Stage 3 to Stage 2 Water Restrictions
Due to encouraging trends in drought conditions, water usage and system demands, Brunswick County has moved from a Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning to a Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert. Under Stage 2, some water restrictions are reduced or removed and the automatic irrigation schedule is expanded.
Stage 2 – Key Reminders & Main Restrictions
This is a select list of some of the main differences under a Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert. See the full list on the website at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise.
Automated outdoor irrigation days are increased
It’s not like they don’t have anything to work on …
The following five (5) items are what’s In the Works/Loose Ends queue:
The definition of loose ends is a fragment of unfinished business or a detail that is not yet settled or explained, which is the current status of these items. All of these items were started and then put on hold, and they were never put back in the queue. This Board needs to continue working on them and move these items to closure.
Know the difference between wants and needs?
One of the most basic concepts of economics is want vs. need.
A need is something you have to have.
. • It’s something you can’t do without.
A want is something you would like to have.
. • It’s not absolutely necessary, but it would be a good thing to have.
.
Lost in the Sauce
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From 2024 / Blocking Emergency Beach Accesses
Previously reported – June 2024
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
No Action – Discussion on emergency beach access
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
Chief Todd (Tri-Beach Fire) & Chief Dixon have observed emergency access issues
Over the last couple of summers, emergency responders have noticed an increase in people using the areas around the emergency accesses for their beach equipment. More and more often we are seeing canopies, tents, towels, volleyball nets, surfboards, and other beach related equipment directly surrounding the emergency access points. This causes significant emergency response delays. During certain situations, it is not uncommon for some beach equipment to be run over by emergency vehicles as moving the equipment takes too long and no alternate routes are available. This not only increases emergency response times, but it also threatens damage to personal beach equipment and threatens damage to emergency vehicles. We are asking that the Board of Commissioners consider discussing the possibility of enacting ordinances that either prevent beach equipment within a certain distance of emergency access points, and/or ordinances which create emergency vehicle lanes on the beach strand.
They were here tonight presenting an issue that needs to be addressed by the Board. They would like to prohibit blocking emergency access points by not allowing any obstructions there. In addition, they would like to have a travel lane for emergency vehicles on the beach strand. They discussed the issue and decided to benchmark off the surrounding islands policies and have the staff bring back a proposal at the next scheduled Regular Meeting.
We already have verbiage in Ordinance §94.06 that you can’t place items within ten (10) feet of the dunes. That ten (10) feet gives emergency responders a clear path along the dune line for them to go up and down the beach strand. We would just need to modify the Ordinance to prohibit blocking emergency access points.
§ 94.06 PLACING OBSTRUCTIONS ON THE BEACH .
(A) All beach equipment must be removed from the beach by its owner or permitted user on a daily basis. All personal items and beach equipment unattended and remaining on the beach between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. will be classified as abandoned property and shall be removed and disposed of by the town .
(B) All beach equipment shall be set at least ten feet from any sea turtle nest or dune vegetation.
Previously reported – August 2024
ISSUE/ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion and possible action on amending Town Ordinance§ 94.06 Placing Obstructions on the Beach. Possible action to add clause (C) prohibiting beach equipment from blocking emergency accessways.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
At our last BOC meeting, Chief Dixon and Chief Todd discussed issues they are having getting onto the beach and travelling down the beach due to people setting up their beach equipment. Town Ordinance § 94.06 already establishes a travel lane by the dune, but an additional clause is needed to address emergency vehicle accessways.
Proposed new clause: (C) All beach equipment shall be set at least ten feet from any emergency vehicle accessway. Existing ordinance:
Chief Todd (Tri-Beach Fire) & Chief Dixon previously requested the Board address emergency access issues regarding getting on to the beach strand. Mayor Pro Tem Myers proposed adding a clause prohibiting beach equipment from blocking emergency accessways. Both the fire chief and the police chief do not feel that this will do any good. Commissioner Smith wants input from both the fire chief and the police chief as to their recommendations. The Board wants them to tell us what needs to be done.
Commissioners Dyer said previously they had put on the agenda discussing adjusting the prohibited hours and that still needs to be addressed. David stated that more importantly we need additional beach strand access points and that has to be considered a priority for the Board.
Well, I am disappointed that neither chief offered any viable alternatives nor did they benchmark what the other beach communities are doing to address this issue.
From 2025 / Permanently Close a Portion of Carolina Avenue
Previously reported – May 2022
North Carolina Statute §160A-299, lays out the process to permanently close a street/alley. Attached is a summary of the process (Attachment 1).
A draft resolution of intent is included for your review (Attachment 2). In order for the Board to adopt the resolution of intent to close Carolina Avenue from its intersection with Jordan Boulevard to its intersection with Quinton Street, it would require a property survey of the specific road area proposed to be closed to obtain a metes and bounds description.
Staff seeks direction on if the Board would like to move forward with the process to close a portion of Carolina Avenue and on related Block Q site development actions.
The intent is to close Carolina Avenue from its intersection with Jordan Boulevard to its intersection with Quinton Street. David provided a draft of a proposed Resolution that will have to be adopted by the Board in order to proceed. A Public Hearing will also be required to move forward. He outlined the steps necessary to make this happen. Motion was made to move forward with the process as outlined.
Previously reported – July 2022
At the May 17th meeting, the Board instructed staff to move forward with the process to close a portion of Carolina Avenue between Quinton Street and Jordan Boulevard. A survey for the area has been completed. The metes and bounds description has been added to the draft resolution of intent presented at the May meeting (Attachment 1).
Staff is proposing that the required public hearing be held at the September 20, 2022 meeting. This will allow staff time to advertise the public hearing for four successive weeks, post the property and mail any required notices required per North Carolina Statute §160A-299. Attached is the summary of the process that was presented at the May meeting (Attachment 2).
If the Board would like to move forward with the closure of Carolina Avenue between Quinton Street and Jordan Boulevard, the suggested motion is to approve Resolution 22-07, Resolution of Intent to Permanently Close a Portion of Carolina Avenue and schedule the public hearing for September 20, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.
§ 160A-299. Procedure for permanently closing streets and alleys.
(a) When a city proposes to permanently close any street or public alley, the council shall first adopt a resolution declaring its intent to close the street or alley and calling a public hearing on the question. The resolution shall be published once a week for four successive weeks prior to the hearing, a copy thereof shall be sent by registered or certified mail to all owners of property adjoining the street or alley as shown on the county tax records, and a notice of the closing and public hearing shall be prominently posted in at least two places along the street or alley. At the hearing, any person may be heard on the question of whether or not the closing would be detrimental to the public interest, or the property rights of any individual. If it appears to the satisfaction of the council after the hearing that closing the street or alley is not contrary to the public interest, and that no individual owning property in the vicinity of the street or alley or in the subdivision in which it is located would thereby be deprived of reasonable means of ingress and egress to his property, the council may adopt an order closing the street or alley. A certified copy of the order (or judgment of the court) shall be filed in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the street, or any portion thereof, is located. Upon the closing of a street or alley in accordance with this section, subject to the provisions of subsection (f) of this section, all right, title, and interest in the right-of-way shall be conclusively presumed to be vested in those persons owning lots or parcels of land adjacent to the street or alley, and the title of such adjoining landowners, for the width of the abutting land owned by them, shall extend to the centerline of the street or alley.
NCGS 160A-299 state the Protocols for Permanently Closing Streets. The Resolution adopted by the Board is necessary in order to proceed. A Public Hearing is required to move forward and was scheduled.
Previously reported – September 2022
PUBLIC HEARING: Board of Commissioners’ Intent to Permanently Close a Portion of Carolina Avenue from its Intersection with Jordan Boulevard to its Intersection with Quinton Street
Public Hearing was held on their intent to close a portion of Carolina Avenue from its intersection with Jordan Boulevard to its intersection with Quinton Street.
If it is found to the satisfaction of the Board that closure is not contrary to public interest and no individual owning property in the vicinity of the street would be deprived of reasonable ingress or egress to the property, the Board could adopt Ordinance 22-20 (Attachment 1). The ordinance orders that the portion of Carolina Avenue from its intersection with Jordan Boulevard to its intersection with Quinton Street be closed effective immediately and directs that the order be filed in the office of the Register of Deeds.
Commissioner Murdock questioned whether it was necessary for a portion of the street to be closed immediately since we currently do not have a plan in place to utilize the property. Decision was to hold in abeyance until they have a plan in place.
Editor’s note –
Ordinance 22-20, which closed Carolina Avenue, was passed in 2022. We currently block Carolina Avenue on both Saturday and Sunday, the two busiest paid parking days of the week. The question is: why have we not closed the street yet?
Hurricane Season
For more information » click here.
Be prepared – have a plan!
No matter what a storm outlook is for a given year,
vigilance and preparedness is urged.
NOAA maintains prediction for below-normal Atlantic hurricane season
Need for U.S. residents to prepare remains
With the climatological peak of hurricane season approaching in early September, NOAA’s prediction for below-normal activity in the Atlantic basin remains. Forecasters from NOAA’s National Weather Service updated today the number of expected named storms to 7-13 (with winds of 39 mph or greater), of which 2-6 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater), including 0-2 major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater). These ranges cover the entire season from June 1 through November 30 and are inclusive of the two tropical storms that have already formed. NOAA forecasters predict a 75% chance for below-normal activity, with a 20% chance of a near-normal season, and just a 5% chance of above-normal activity. This updated prediction is similar to the initial outlook issued in May. In the Atlantic basin, a typical hurricane season will yield 14 named storms, of which seven become hurricanes, including three major hurricanes.
Only Gulf storms in the Atlantic Basin so far
To date, the 2026 season has produced two named tropical storms, Arthur and Bertha, and no hurricanes. Tropical Storm Arthur was the first named storm of the Atlantic season. Forming in mid-June in the warm Gulf of America waters off the Texas coast, Arthur brought record rainfall to portions of Louisiana and spawned tornadoes along the Gulf coast. Bertha also formed in the Gulf, originating south of the Florida panhandle before making landfall in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. “Inland rainfall is a major cause of damage from tropical storms and hurricanes, as Arthur demonstrated,” said NOAA’s National Weather Service Director Ken Graham. “That’s why it’s important to prepare for every storm that’s projected to impact your area, even if it never reaches hurricane strength.”
Factors influencing the Atlantic hurricane season outlook
For the remainder of the season, tropical storm activity in the Atlantic basin is expected to be tempered by El Nino conditions, which first emerged in the equatorial Pacific in June. El Nino increases wind shear, which tends to prevent tropical storms from forming or from getting stronger once formed. Other less influential factors include temperatures near average in the Atlantic Ocean and a neutral west African monsoon. “When El Nino emerges, it usually becomes the dominant factor in total hurricane season activity, and this El Nino continues to get stronger every month,” said Matt Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s National Weather Service.“Compared to a mature El Nino, other mechanisms play a smaller role in determining the number and intensity of tropical storms in the Atlantic basin.”
Hurricane outlooks in other ocean basins
Although El Nino tends to limit tropical activity in the Atlantic, it can enhance storm development in the Pacific. NOAA’s outlook for the Eastern Pacific hurricane season remains unchanged with 15-22 named storms, which is above average. So far there have been seven named storms, of which two became hurricanes, including one major hurricane. An above-normal season is also expected in the Central Pacific basin, with 5-13 named storms and tropical depressions.
About NOAA’s Hurricane Season Outlook
NOAA’s Hurricane Season Outlook is for overall seasonal activity and is not a landfall forecast. Landfalls are largely determined by short-term weather patterns, which are only predictable within about a week of a storm potentially reaching land. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) provides tropical weather outlooks out to seven days in advance, provides track and intensity forecasts for individual storms and issues watches and warnings for specific tropical storms, hurricanes and the associated storm surge.
Stay informed
Consult the NHC website, hurricanes.gov, for the latest about tropical storm and hurricane activity in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins. You can also follow regular updates from NHC on X at @NHC_Atlantic offsite link and on Facebook. You can also access additional tips and resources to stay safe this season.
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Why the 2026 hurricane season is so quiet; what it means for NC coast
So far the 2026 hurricane season, which started June 1, has been very slow. How slow? It’s the quietest start to a hurricane season this century. Why?
For most of this hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center’s online map of the Atlantic basin has been showing a surprising image and message. Nothing with this text superimposed on the map: “Tropical cyclone activity is not expected during the next 7 days.” So far the 2026 season, which started June 1, has been the quietest start to a hurricane season this century. There have only been three named storms so far, and they’ve lasted a combined four days. Tropical Storm Arthur brought significant rain to parts of the Gulf coast and Southeastern United States in mid-June, but only after it dissipated. Tropical Storm Bertha in mid-July also brought rain to parts of the Gulf but didn’t cause much of a ruckus. And Tropical Storm Cristobal in August hung around for about a day in the middle of the Atlantic before petering out. Even a pair of tropical disturbances that held the possibility of forming into something or even combining into a bigger system before hitting the Caribbean in mid-August fizzled out. So what’s going on, and how soon could we see Dolly and Edouard?
The 2026 season is both normal and unusual
According to the hurricane center, things aren’t actually that unusual this year. “The first named storm typically forms in mid- to late June, the first hurricane tends to form in early to mid-August, and the first major hurricane forms in late August or early September,” the agency states on its website. The busiest part of hurricane season also runs roughly from mid-August into early October, with the peak day for activity being Sept. 10. But according to another factor, this season is a strange one. The Weather Channel reports that the accumulated cyclone energy, which measures how long storms last and how strong they get, for this hurricane season is unusually low. According to the weather site, the 2026 season is the slowest-starting hurricane season in terms of accumulated cyclone energy since 1998.
Enter El Niño
Across the board, meteorologists say the strengthening El Niño in the equatorial Pacific is playing a large role in squashing tropical activity in the Atlantic basin. El Niño is a natural climate pattern in which surface seawater temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are warmer than normal. Meaning Little Boy in Spanish, El Niño was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America with the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific around Christmas. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there’s a nearly 70% chance it could develop into a “super” El Niño, meaning its impacts could be greater than normal. If a super El Niño does develop, it could supercharge weather events across the world. For the U.S. South, which could mean wetter conditions with more heavy rainfall events this fall and winter − bringing much-needed relief to the ongoing drought situation in much of the Tar Heel State. In a world already cooking hotter than normal thanks to climate change, the weather pattern also could amplify extreme heat already baking much of the world. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2025 was the third warmest year on record, only trailing 2024 and 2023, with sea-surface temperatures also setting records despite cooling La Niña weather patterns. El Niño can have a significant impact on the severity of the hurricane season in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the Atlantic, the weather pattern tends to reduce activity in the tropical Atlantic by bringing on stronger upper-level wind shear and sinking air, hindering the formation of tropical weather systems, while having the opposite effect and boosting activity in the Pacific. The Northwest Pacific has already seen three Category 5 storms this season, and in the Central Pacific Hurricane Lala just finished lashing Hawaii with 90 mph winds.
What happens now?
The latest forecast from Colorado State University is only calling for nine named storms this season, which would be an exceptionally low total, especially given how warm most of the tropical Atlantic is right now. In effect, the Caribbean has largely become a no-go zone for hurricane formation. “That’s a great indication of the power of El Niño, that it can develop in the Pacific, but still have a controlling role in weather patterns half a world away,” said N.C. Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis. While North Carolina missing out on tropical weather might sound good on paper, it also comes with some other impacts. One of those is a loss of the rainfall such a system would bring to Eastern North Carolina, an area that largely remains in drought or a very dry state as of late August. The region relies on passing tropical weather for much of its summer precipitation that helps farmers and recharges underground aquifers. According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, the Port City had seen 25.3 inches of rain in 2026 as of Aug. 18. That compares to a normal average of nearly 36 inches. “Wilmington averages more than 8 inches of rain in both August and September, and it’s hard to get that much from the sort of spotty showers and storms we’ve seen in recent weeks,” Davis said. “While we certainly don’t wish for anything tropical, some areas could definitely use the rain to make a dent in this drought.” But on the flip side, El Niño normally brings above-average rainfall to the U.S. Southeast in the fall and winter. During the last strong El Niño in 2015, Wilmington has its wettest October on record and fourth-wettest winter, Davis said. “This all feels like a be-careful-what-you-wish-for sort of situation,” he said. “We need the rain now, but we’ll probably be sick of it in a few months.” Tim Armstrong, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Wilmington office, said even with El Niño hindering storm development across much of the tropics, which doesn’t mean Southeastern N.C. is out of the woods for storm development. “There’s still the subtropical Atlantic we have to watch closely,” he said. “El Niño doesn’t affect shear as much outside of the tropics, so a locally grown storm could more easily develop this fall and bring impacts to the Carolinas.” Past examples of these types of storms include Ophelia in 2005 and Diana in 1984. And the unnamed storm that swamped southern New Hanover County and parts of Brunswick County with 20 inches of rain in 2024 was another one of these storms, he added. Officials also continue to stress to coastal residents that even if it appears to be a relatively quiet season, it only takes one storm arriving on your doorstep to make it a terrible hurricane season. “And our own work suggests that it is very difficult to predict that quantity on a year-to-year basis since you are dealing with the statistics are very small numbers,” said Dr. Michael Mann, a meteorologist and scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. “But we do know that there is an increase over time in the maximum intensity of these storms driven by human-caused warming.”
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Lou’s Views . HBPOIN
. • Gather and disseminate information
. • Identify the issues and determine how they affect you
. • Act as a watchdog
. • Grass roots monthly newsletter since 2008
Lou’s Views
News & Views / August Edition
Calendar of Events
U.S. Open King Mackerel Fishing Tournament
October 1st thru 3rd
Southport
The U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament has taken place since 1979 and is held annually the first week in October. The U.S. Open is one of the largest king mackerel tournaments on the East Coast and part of the SKA (Southern Kingfish Association) Tournament Trail. The tournament now attracts almost 400 boats annually.
For more information » click here
Riverfest
October 3rd & 4th
Wilmington
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Wilmington’s Riverfest is celebrated in October since 1979 and runs from the foot of Market Street to Cape Fear Community College over a half mile of free familyentertainment.
For more information » click here
Sunset at Sunset
October 3rd
Sunset Beach
Held the first Saturday in October each year, Sunset at Sunset is the Town of Sunset Beach’s Community Block Party. The annual autumn event has been celebrated since 2007, and is scheduled to happen again this year, in front of Ingram Planetarium on Sunset Boulevard in Sunset Beach.
For more information » click here
Brunswick County Agricultural Fair and Expo
October 21st thru 25th
Ash
The first annual agricultural fair and expo. Experience thrilling amusement rides and enjoy our vibrant agricultural and livestock exhibits.
For more information » click here
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N.C. Oyster Festival
October 17th & 18th
Ocean Isle Beach
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.The annual North Carolina Oyster Festival has been taking place since 1978. Come celebrate everything Oyster witha variety of foods, crafts, contests, children’s activities,and musical performances at Mulberry Park in Shallotte. Signature Festival events include theOyster Shucking Contest, Oyster Eating Contest, and Oyster Stew Cook-off.
For more information » click here
N.C. Festival by the Sea
October 24th & 25th
Holden Beach
Hosted by the Holden Beach Merchants Association this annual two-day festival which started in the 1980’s occurs on the last full weekend in October. The festival is kicked off with a parade down the Holden Beach causeway. There is a fishing tournament, horseshoe tournament, and a sandcastle building contest. Vendors provide food, arts and crafts, amusement rides and other activities. There is live musical entertainment both days at the Holden Beach’s Pavilion.
For more information » click here
Discover a wide range of things to do in the Brunswick Islands for an experience that goes beyond the beach.
For more information » click here.
Calendar of Events Island
HBPOA Labor Day Meeting
HBPOA meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 5th at Town Hall
Concerts on the Coast Series
The Town’s summer concert series calendar has been released! Live performances featuring local musical groups will be held at the Block Q concert venue. It will be on Sunday evenings at 6:30pm from May 24th to September 6th. The concerts are FREE of charge.
Beginning May 24th and continuing through September 6th
Meet the Holden Beach Police Dept. and the Tri-Beach Fire Dept. before the concert.
Parks & Recreation / Programs & Events
For more information » click here
Reminders
Pets on the Beach Strand
§90.20 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNERS
Effective May 20th through September 10th
A Second Helping
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Program to collect food Saturday mornings (8:00am to 10:30am) during the summer at the Beach Mart on the Causeway.
. 1) Twenty-second year of the program
. 2) Food collections have now exceeded 317,000 pounds
. 3) Collections will begin on Memorial Day weekend
. 4) Food is distributed to the needy in Brunswick County
For more information » click here
.
Hunger exists everywhere in this country; join them in the fight to help end hunger in Brunswick County. Cash donations are gratefully accepted. One hundred percent (100%) of these cash donations are used to buy more food. You can be assured that the money will be very well spent.
Mail Donations to:
A Second Helping
% Sharon United Methodist Church
2030 Holden Beach Road
Supply, NC 28462
News from Town of Holden Beach
The town sends out emails of events, news, agendas, notifications, and emergency information. If you would like to be added to their mailing list, please go to their web site to complete your subscription to the Holden Beach E-Newsletter.
For more information » click here
Paid Parking
Paid parking in Holden Beach
Paid parking will be enforced from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily with free parking before and after that time. All parking will use license plates for verification.
Rates
Parking rates for a single vehicle in all designated areas will be:
$5 per hour for up to four hours
$20 per day for any duration greater than four hours
$80 per week for seven consecutive days
Handicap Parking
A vehicle displaying a handicap license plate and/or hang tag parked in a designated handicap space is free. Any other parking space will require a parking permit via the app.
Annual Passes
Annual permits for the calendar year allow vehicles (this includes low-speed vehicles and trailers) access to designated parking.
$175 for a single vehicle
Passes can be purchased via the app, website or by telephone.
Where to Park
Per ordinance, there is no parking on the streets or rights-of-way except in designated parking spaces identified by Pay-to-Park signs. Click here to view an interactive map. The table with authorized parking can be viewed below.
Citations will be issued for:
How Do I Pay to Park
The Town uses the SurfCAST by Otto Connect Mobile Solution. This is a mobile app downloadable for Apple and Android devices. Download the app today. Users will setup their account, enter their license plate details and pay for parking directly on the app. Alternatively, users can scan the QR Code located on the parking signs to access a secure website.
The Otto Connect customer service team will be available to help via phone and email.
THB Newsletter (06/18/26)
OttoView by Otto Connect
Just in time for peak beach season, Otto Connect, Inc. has launched a new feature designed to make parking along the coast easier and less stressful for visitors and residents alike. “OttoView by Otto Connect,” is part of the SurfCAST parking system and allows users to check parking availability in real time before heading to the beach. The feature is now available in Holden Beach. For many drivers, finding parking during busy summer weekends can be one of the most frustrating parts of a beach trip. OttoView aims to reduce congestion and save time by showing which lots have open spaces—and which do not—before users arrive. “Instead of circling for a spot, people can now see their options ahead of time and go directly to available parking,” Jim Varner (CEO) said in a statement.
Know before you go:
OttoView can be accessed through the SurfCAST website
(https://park.surfcast.ottoconnect.us/), the QRcode link, and will be available soon via mobile app update (“SurfCAST by Otto”) making it easy for visitors to plan from home or on the go.
What OttoView Shows:
OttoView is fully integrated into the SurfCAST system and is available at no additional cost.
For more information, visit https://www.ottoconnect.us.
Solid Waste Pickup Schedule
GFL Environmental change in service, the Saturday before Memorial Day till the end of September, trash pickup will be twice a week.
Please note:
Trash carts must be at the street by 6:00 a.m. on the pickup day
BAG the trash before putting it in the cart
Carts will be rolled back to the front of the house
GFL Refuse Collection Policy
GFL has recently notified all Brunswick County residents that they will no longer accept extra bags of refuse outside of the collection cart. This is not a new policy but is stricter enforcement of an existing policy. While in the past GFL drivers would at times make exceptions and take additional bags of refuse, the tremendous growth in housing within Brunswick County makes this practice cost prohibitive and causes drivers to fall behind schedule.
Solid Waste Pickup Schedule
starting the Saturday before Memorial Day (May 23rd) twice a week
Recycling
starting after Memorial Day (June 2nd) weekly pick-up
Curbside Recycling – 2026
GFL Environmental is now offering curbside recycling for Town properties that desire to participate in the service. The service cost per cart is $122.93 annually paid in advance to the Town of Holden Beach. The service consists of a ninety-six (96) gallon cart that is emptied every other week during the months of October – May and weekly during the months of June – September.
Curbside Recycling Application » click here
Curbside Recycling Calendar » click here
Trash Can Requirements – Rental Properties
GFL Environmental – trash can requirements
Ordinance 07-13, Section 50.08
Rental properties have specific number of trashcans based on number of bedrooms.
* One extra trash can per every 2 bedrooms
..
§ 50.08 RENTAL HOMES.
(A) Rental homes, as defined in Chapter 157, that are rented as part of the summer rental season, are subject to high numbers of guests, resulting in abnormally large volumes of trash. This type of occupancy use presents a significantly higher impact than homes not used for summer rentals. In interest of public health and sanitation and environmental concerns, all rental home shall have a minimum of one trash can per two bedrooms. Homes with an odd number of bedrooms shall round up (for examples one to two bedrooms – one trash can; three to four bedrooms – two trash cans; five – six bedrooms – three trash cans, and the like).
Upon Further Review
South Carolina advances parkway project as North Carolina lags
A new highway extension planned to add another route connecting North Carolina and South Carolina continues to move ahead, but only for one state department. While the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is facing hurdles on the project, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is making way to begin construction of the Carolina Bays Parkway Extension project. The NCDOT, SCDOT and Federal Highway Administration are working to extend S.C. 31, known as Carolina Bays Parkway, from S.C. 9 in Horry County, South Carolina, to U.S. 17 in Brunswick County. If constructed, the proposed project will result in a new multi-lane full access freeway connecting the states. The SCDOT is responsible for extending the parkway from its current boundary at S.C. 9 in Horry County to the North Carolina state line, roughly five miles. Nearly 15 miles is in Brunswick County, to be funded and built by the NCDOT. Seven different design alternatives have been mulled over for several years. Alternative map 4, which crosses through Hickman’s Crossroads and the Longwood area, was the chosen preferred route in Brunswick County that would eventually dump onto U.S. 17. All seven of NCDOT’s alternative maps for the highway route can be viewed on NCDOT’s website. A NCDOT news release in April 2026 announced Brunswick County residents’ negative feedback and funding challenges pushed the NCDOT to reroute. Project Manager Brian Harding said the NCDOT is crafting new options for the Carolina Bays Parkway Extension project. He previously told the StarNews that existing alternative maps — not including alternative 4 — remain on the table for consideration. “We’re trying to make something that works a little better for the project as a whole, and for the public,” Harding said. SCDOT Director of Media Relations Jennifer Timmons said the SCDOT is also working on a new alternative route to bring the road to a destination near the state line. The route will likely be presented during a public meeting this fall, said Timmons, noting the SCDOT and Horry County remain strongly committed to completing their portion of the project. “At this point, we do not anticipate any significant delays resulting from NCDOT’s decision,” Timmons said. The SCDOT is now working with the Federal Highway Administration to get advanced right of way acquisition approved to expedite and streamline the project. While finalizing required environmental permits, the department will use a $22 million federal earmark dedicated to the right-of-way acquisition. South Carolina’s timeline remains set to complete environmental documents in 2027, begin right of way acquisition in 2027 and start construction in 2029, said Timmons. Though the project schedule is not substantially changed, Timmons said early acquisition ensures funds are obligated before expiring and allows the department to purchase some necessary right of way in advance. “The remainder of the right of way acquisition is expected to begin in 2027, as was always the plan,” Timmons said. “Again, we want to reiterate that this is not unusual and that the project is not experiencing delays.” Unlike South Carolina, Harding said the NCDOT does not have right-of-way or construction funding. This also means no construction or right-of-way acquisition timeline exists for the North Carolina side of the project. “Our funding only carries us through the environmental document planning portion of the project in North Carolina, which doesn’t include the final design,” Harding said. Harding could not say how long it would take to catch up to the SCDOT if the NCDOT were to receive funding for the project, noting the timeline will be dependent on the selected final design. Asked how much longer the alternative route will take, Harding replied they are still working through the process. The public will have a chance to review and provide input on the new design once completed, Harding added.
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Corrections & Amplifications
Ocean Isle Beach Terminal Groin
Ocean Isle Beach completed construction of a terminal groin on its east end in April 2022 to help protect the beach immediately behind it. However, this structure has contributed to significant erosion at the east end near Shallotte Inlet by interrupting natural longshore drift, prompting ongoing efforts such as sandbag use to prevent ocean encroachment on properties in that area.
2024 OIB SHORELINE AND INLET ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT
On Holden Beach, the recent volume change rates (May 2024 to November 2024) along the oceanfront shoreline indicated erosion at 12 of the 21 monitoring stations. Similarly, the MHW shoreline change rates indicated a shoreline retreat at 15 of the 21 monitoring stations. The long-term post-construction linear shoreline changes along the Holden Beach oceanfront shoreline indicated landward retreat. However, volumetric changes indicated slight accretion (0.2 cy/ft./yr.) within this area over the long-term period. The shoreline threshold analysis results along the Holden Beach oceanfront shoreline show that the post-construction shoreline change threshold was exceeded at only one monitoring station. This is the first time a threshold has been exceeded at Holden Beach since this annual analysis started in 2022. In addition, the analysis of May 2024 aerial imagery-derived wet/dry line revealed an 885 ft. section of Holden Beach’s inlet shoreline that exceeded the inlet shoreline threshold by a maximum distance of 100 feet. The inlet shoreline threshold on Holden Beach was also exceeded in Year-2. This marks two straight years where this threshold was exceeded. The inlet shoreline recession is believed to likely be attributed to a combination of morphological changes within Shallotte Inlet including the position and orientation of the main channel through Shallotte Inlet and the formation of a flood channel on the inlet shoulder of Holden Beach. Regardless, as stated in the Plan, because the shoreline changes in this area exceeded the threshold over the entire 2-year confirmation period, an assessment of the proper responsive measures will be made through coordination with State and Federal regulatory officials.
East End/Terminal Groin Short Term Mitigation
As required by State and Federal permits associated with the Town’s Shoreline and Inlet Management Plan, annual shoreline monitoring identified erosion east of the terminal groin that exceeded established management thresholds. To maintain permit compliance and address localized erosion concerns, the Town implemented a short-term mitigation project consisting of targeted beach nourishment east of the terminal groin.
Project Update
This project, along with the US Army Corps of Engineers – Shallotte Inlet Crossing & Widener Project, placed 70,000 cy of sand east of the terminal groin with another 35,000 cy west of the terminal groin. With this short-term mitigation measure in place, the Town has engaged with Coastal Protection Engineering (CPE) to investigate long-term mitigation plans to prevent any further erosion adjacent to the terminal groin.
Saving homes or beaches? NC faces tough call on seawall ban
A new report says placing hardened structures along the N.C. oceanfront could help with chronic erosion woes. But they come with plenty of risk.
North Carolina’s love-hate relationship with hardened structures along the oceanfront is heating up. From the Outer Banks in the north to Ocean Isle Beach in the south, many portions of North Carolina’s 320 miles of oceanfront are dealing with erosion woes that are threatening homes, infrastructure and coastal economies. Coastal officials have long complained that the state’s ban, although softened in recent years, on hardened structures along the oceanfront like seawalls and jetties leaves them with few options beyond expensive beach nourishment to deal with the shifting sands. Environmentalists and others say the ban protects the natural beauty and feel of North Carolina’s beaches while reinforcing that there are simply some places that we shouldn’t be developing. They also note that hardened structures often do little but move the erosion woes to other parts of the beachfront. In June 2026, the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel released its draft report on the effects of hardened structures on the coast. The report, while not taking sides on the state’s four-decade-long ban on permanent structures along the beachfront, is meant to provide guidance for regulators and policymakers as they debate the emotionally charged issue.
How did we get here?
North Carolina’s existing rules on oceanfront construction are largely based on using a 30-year setback rule. The thinking was that a 30-year window of sand and dunes in front of a structure would give homeowners and local communities a chance to come up with a long-term solution if the ocean started encroaching on oceanfront properties. But structures these days often last longer than 30 years, and the environmental conditions of the 1970s aren’t the same as those the coast is facing today. Storms are bigger and more powerful than those of last century thanks to climate change, and sea-level rise is increasing. Sea level is expected to rise by a foot or more by 2050 from today’s levels, amplifying the impacts of tidal flooding and storms that aren’t even tropical in nature. As environmental conditions grow more challenging, oceanfront homes are tumbling into the water. In Rodanthe and Buxton on the Outer Banks, more than 30 homes have collapsed since 2020. Closer to Wilmington, sandbags now line stretches of beachfront in North Topsail Beach, Figure Eight Island and Ocean Isle Beach, offering the last line of protection for million-dollar homes.
‘Maintain a cautious approach’
With pressure mounting on officials to come up with some solutions to disappearing beaches, the science panel was asked to look into shoreline management, both in N.C. and other states, and examine the pros and cons of different measures − particularly the use of oceanfront hardened structures. “Recent erosion impacts in several North Carolina oceanfront communities have brought shoreline management issues back to the forefront, prompting questions about whether alternatives to beach nourishment should be considered to address chronic erosion,” states the report. But the science panel makes it crystal clear that hardening the shoreline to prevent the natural movement of beaches and dunes landward will likely lead to, first, a narrower and then likely a disappearing beach in front of the structure. Groins and jetties, while helping the beach adjacent to them, also end up “starving” beach areas downdrift of the structures. The volunteer panel, however, also noted that securing the shoreline could offer coastal communities an economic lifeline. “The panel therefore recommends that North Carolina maintain a cautious approach to any expansion of the use of hardened structures and that any major reconsideration of the state’s oceanfront management policies include a broad and comprehensive assessment of the physical, ecological, recreational, and economic consequences of expanded use, including consideration of who will likely benefit and who will likely suffer adverse effects, prior to policy modification,” the report states.
Legislators getting involved
As erosion threatens more oceanfront properties, infrastructure, and the coast’s vital tourism industry, legislators are taking notice and proposing solutions. A bill working its way through the N.C. General Assembly could permanently change the face of the state’s coast. Senate Bill 1009, would lift the state ban on hardened structures, including seawalls, jetties and terminal groins, low-slung structures built perpendicular to the shoreline that helps trap sand in areas of high erosion, such as near inlets. Proponents of the legislation say times along the coast have changed, and state policy needs to match the new realities that residents, visitors and local officials are dealing with along the oceanfront. While current rules push beach communities to favor nourishment, enhanced dune systems, and other “natural” approaches to shoreline management, some say more permanent and immediate solutions are sometimes required. Beach nourishment isn’t cheap, with even small projects costing millions, and can be a regulatory challenge if you have to find compatible beach sand that is often in short supply. In places like the Outer Banks, officials have said trying to maintain more than 80 miles of beachfront simply isn’t feasible under current rules and regulations. And to be truly effective, nourishments have to be repeated every few years due to natural erosion and storm-related events − heaping more pressure on state and local budgets that already face a lot of funding priorities. Environmentalists and coastal advocates say installing hardened structures to control erosion means picking winners and losers along the oceanfront, since they will end up taking sand from other parts of the beachfront. There also can be environmental impacts, such as the loss of habitat and beaches for nesting sea turtles and shorebirds. Greg “Rudi” Rudolph, a member of the science panel, said there’s no “magic bullet” for North Carolina’s oceanfront erosion issues, with each possible solution carrying pros and cons. He also said many of the shoreline management tools need to be done in conjunction with each other to offer a truly effective long-term solution, such as a groin and periodic nourishment. “There are trade-offs, there are benefits, and there are costs,” Rudolph said. “That’s what makes this so challenging.”
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‘150 years of negative impacts’ to New Jersey coast: Corbett
In the last six years the Atlantic Ocean has demolished nearly three dozen privately owned oceanfront homes in Buxton and Rodanthe. These collapsed houses represent a broader coastal management challenge, even pushing the commission that makes coastal development rules to reconsider a decades long ban on hardened structures built for erosion control, Dr. Reide Corbett said during a recent talk at Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harker’s Island. A coastal oceanographer and geochemist, Corbett, as of July 16, is the new interim dean of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences on East Carolina University’s main campus. He spent the last 14 years as head of the Coastal Studies Institute, or CSI, in Wanchese, led by ECU. His talk was one of five in the “Water/Ways” speaker series last month organized to complement the Smithsonian traveling exhibit with the same name that was on display at the time. “There’s no doubt that we are seeing changes along our shoreline,” and because there’s not just one thing driving coastal change, there’s not one simple solution, Corbett said early in the presentation. “I’ll go ahead and put quotes around ‘solution’ now because I might not do it throughout the entire talk, because a solution to many of these challenges we face is likely only temporary. It’s not going to solve the problem. The process that is driving many of these changes won’t be solved by one thing.”
The process
North Carolina’s coast is protected by low-lying sand deposits called barrier islands. These mobile landforms that separate the mainland from the ocean are in constant but slow motion toward the mainland. This natural process is how these islands maintain elevation and width. This is nothing new, “barrier islands have always changed,” Corbett said, but now these mobile landforms are developed. “For better or worse, it is where we are. These coastlines have been changing since there were coastlines. The difference is we have a lot of infrastructure today in the same areas where these coastlines are changing.” The natural process of erosion on the oceanside and growth on the sound side of the island is being exacerbated by increasing sea levels, development associated with population growth, and storm impacts. The National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration reported a few years ago that sea level is expected to rise 1 to 1.5 feet by 2050. “To put that in perspective, it took the last almost 100 years for sea levels to change 1 foot in coastal North Carolina,” Corbett said. “And from roughly 2000 to 2050, we’ll expect at least an additional 1-to 1.5-foot rise.” That is a significant amount, and “When you look at what sea level is doing based on tide gauges up and down our coast, we are right on track to meet that if not surpass that” projection that he said has a 95% chance of happening. To illustrate, when a house on the Outer Banks gets taken by the ocean, Corbett said the “narrative is ‘often why did people build here? Why would they put their house right there? It’s so vulnerable,’” but when the houses were built in Buxton, for example, in the 1970s and 1980s, there was 100 to 300 feet of beach, or a few dunes, in front at the time. Now, the ocean is on their doorstep. It’s because these shorelines have been eroding for decades, some at 5, 10 or 15 feet per year every year. Then put a storm on top of that, or this past fall, three storms “one after another after another without any time for recovery, and what you end up doing is deflating the beach, dropping the elevation of that beach, removing significant amount of sand because of the energy in the system.” There has been roughly a 1-foot rise in sea level since 1975 at this location, and erosion has continued anywhere from 4 to 8 feet per year there. “You put those two things together and this is what you have,” he said. As Corbett said early in the program, “there’s not going to be a single simple solution for any community” and what may work for one won’t necessarily work for another.
Community questions
Communities need to ask themselves what they are trying to protect. “Is it an individual home? Is it a way of life? Is it an economy? Where are we acting? Where is it most vulnerable? What are we trying to protect? And where is that? You can ask ‘why are we trying to protect that?’ as well if you like. How far are we looking out into the future? Because I think that’s important to consider when acting on a potential solution.” What can a community do once it decides on a path forward? There are a handful of options, starting with nothing, which Corbett said isn’t really a response. Some areas can be protected. For example, a living shoreline in an estuary could protect infrastructure. Accommodate the change and that might look like houses being raised or a bridge around a very vulnerable location or leave. “Nobody likes to hear the word ‘retreat’ because it seems like you’re giving up. And I don’t disagree with that,” he said, but the idea is to move out of those most vulnerable locations. Corbett said that hardened structures are “being pointed to a lot today as a way of protection, a solution to the problem. And I think it’s important to recognize the tradeoffs.” In North Carolina, hardened structures have not been used to control erosion in decades, because of a policy in the 1980s and then a law in the early 2000s. Corbett noted on the presentation slide that the state law “prohibits the construction of a permanent erosion control structure in an ocean shoreline, including breakwater, bulkhead, groin, jetty, revetment, seawall or any similar structure. This ban was based on extensive studies and technical data documenting the detrimental impacts of erosion control structures, including 150 years of documented negative impacts of shoreline stabilization on the barrier islands of New Jersey.” The different kinds of hardened structures come with their own sets of problems. A vertical structure like a seawall might protect what’s behind it but will lead to higher erosion rates on either side of the structure and a total loss of recreation beach in front of it, Corbett said. The houses actively crumbling have pressed the Coastal Resources Commission to consider potential changes to its laws on hardened structures and charged its science panel, on which he serves, in February to draft a report on the various types of hardened structures for oceanfront and the advantages and disadvantages of each type. The report was first presented during the commission’s June meeting. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management, which carries out the development rules established by the commission, announced that the commission is to hear an update on the report during the Aug. 26-27 meeting in Manteo. But with all those responses, “I think it’s important to recognize that the processes aren’t changing,” Corbett said. Buxton has three terminal groins that were built in the 1960s that have deteriorated, and the narrative suggests that the deterioration and large holes in the structure farthest south has led to significant erosion. “My argument is, it’s not just that. It’s an erosional system. There’s a lot of data to show that even with these groins, there’s a reason we moved the lighthouse,” said Corbett, referring to the Cape Hatteras Light, which was moved in 1999 a distance of 2,900 feet from where it was built in 1870 because of its proximity to the waves. “It wasn’t a stable system. And those groins have been there since the late ’60s. And so, this is an eroding system. And it’s been eroding regardless of whether those groins were there or not. And it will continue to erode whether we rebuild those groins or not.” Nourishment does protect but is a temporary solution. It’s not changing the process causing the erosion. Beach nourishment is when sand is taken from a borrow area and pumped onto the beach. The amount of time the new sand lasts on the shoreline is no longer projected to be seven years. Now the project planners are calculating for five years. But that’s not long enough either. The sand from a 2022 beach nourishment in Buxton only lasted two years until more was needed. Corbett’s hypothesis is that nourishment projects are causing the shoreface to steepen 15 to 20 feet from the shoreline. He said he was considering looking further into this untested theory to see if the nourishment areas are becoming more vulnerable. Data available on coastsat.space, which uses satellite imagery to map ocean shorelines, shows how the beach is changing and responding to a beach nourishment project. For south Nags Head, the first nourishment project was in late 2011 or 2012, and data shows that after nourishment, the erosion rate became significantly faster. “You place a lot of sand on the beach, it’s unnatural. Yes, it provides a wider beach, but you also increase that erosion rate,” Corbett said. “I’m not saying this isn’t protecting infrastructure” but it doesn’t stop the process. “Nourishment is a Band-Aid for that real physical process of erosion. It hasn’t slowed the process. It is a temporary solution that has to continue. You don’t do a single nourishment, you develop a nourishment program,” he said. “It’s $20 million today. It’s $20 million in five years.” Ultimately, Corbett said communities need to decide what they want to protect and if they’re willing to accept the tradeoff.
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Odds & Ends
Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says
The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. July averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit (24.94 degrees Celsius) across the Lower 48 states, eclipsing the Dust Bowl’s July 1936 by an eighth of a degree. Records go back to 1895. “It’s not good when you’re breaking records from the Dust Bowl, which we are in this case,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections. “And that was a crazy sort of situation where you put tens of millions of people in motion. You had this great migration because of the drought and the heat that hit the center of the U.S. — just a cataclysmic event in U. S. history. If we’re exceeding records from The Dust Bowl, that says that we’re in deep trouble.” Although it was unusually cool in Alaska, hotter-than-normal conditions blanketed the Lower 48, with the most excessive heat in the Mountain West, Southwest, Northern Plains and Southeast. The heat was so widespread that every one of the Lower 48 states was at least 1 degree Fahrenheit (nearly 0.6 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 20th century average, said Russ Vose, chief of monitoring at NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information. The heat in the Dust Bowl years was more concentrated in parts of the Midwest and was aggravated by agricultural practices at the time, Vose said. What’s happening now is due to the burning of coal, oil and gas, scientists said. “Extremely high temperatures across the continental U.S. this summer, along with intense drought and fire conditions, are absolutely consistent with the climate change signal,’ said Katharine Jacobs, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona. The biggest driver of the record heat was nighttime lows that smashed the old mark for hottest minimums by 0.7 degrees, NOAA said. Hotter nights are a classic sign of human-caused climate change, according to scientists and several studies in peer-reviewed literature. NOAA’s calculation is based on averaging 24 hours of temperature, not just highs or lows. “If you’re talking heat waves, that nighttime low is incredibly important for determining total heat stress,” Masters said. “So if it doesn’t cool off at night, your body doesn’t have time to readjust to all the heat.” As nighttime temperatures increase, more people die and lose sleep, studies show. The years 2021 and 1936 tie for America’s hottest summer, which is June through August. Through July, 2026 is a shade cooler than 2021, which was powered by record heat in June. Because of climate change, Masters said, “this may be one of the coolest years we’re gonna experience for the rest of our lives.” What’s needed, Masters said, is “to stop burning so many fossil fuels. We also need to be spending money to adapt to the new climate that we’ve put in place.”
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July was the hottest month in the US since records began in 1895
July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States, according to data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The month featured long, intense heat domes that led to record hot temperatures from the East Coast to the Plains and Southwestern states. NOAA’s temperature records date back to 1895. By the end of the month, large wildfires were burning in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, mirroring what has been taking place in Europe, which is having its hottest summer on record. July’s average temperature in the Lower 48 states was 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, NOAA reported. This was about 0.1 to 0.2 degrees warmer than July 1936 and July 2012 — the previous record holders — NOAA stated. July tends to be the hottest month of the year in most of the US. More than 600 monthly records for highest maximum and minimum temperatures have been set this year in July across the US. There were fewer than 50 monthly records set on the cool side for temperatures. In any given month those should average out to be even. Climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels has altered this pattern. One feature of the July weather pattern in the US was a seemingly endless series of heat domes that popped up in different parts of the country depending on the contortions of the jet stream. Heat domes act like a lid on a pot, trapping and enhancing hot air beneath them. The jet stream is a narrow corridor of fast-moving air at about 30,000 feet above the Earth’s surface, and it plays a key role in steering and providing energy for weather systems. Long-term, human-caused climate change is making heat waves more intense, longer-lasting and more likely to occur. Last month saw an intense heat wave that enveloped the eastern half of the country through the July 4th holiday weekend, with subsequent rounds of extreme heat that hit after that as well. Above average temperatures stretched across the entirety of the Lower 48 states, with 13 states having monthly average temperatures that ranked in their top-5 warmest Julys. Wyoming had its hottest July and hottest month of any month on record. No state had a ranking near or below average for the month, NOAA found. July has been warming especially rapidly during the past few decades. According to Climate Central, a research and communications nonprofit, in 229 US cities, July temperatures have climbed an average of 2.6 degrees since 1970, with the highest rates of warming occurring in cities in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. Cities that had their warmest Julys include Denver and Salt Lake City, as the Intermountain West had the most significant heat compared to average last month. But many cities across the country had a month that ranked in the top-5 warmest, including Miami, L.A. and Minneapolis. In addition to long-term climate change, a rapidly intensifying El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean is also beginning to be a factor in elevating global average sea and air temperatures and may have played a supporting role in increasing July’s air temperatures across the US. However, studies showed that individual heat waves that struck the country were more connected to climate change plus the natural variability of weather systems than El Niño. July’s extreme heat was not limited to the US, as much of Europe saw multiple heat waves that led to wildfire outbreaks at the end of the month and into early August in Spain, France, the UK, Greece and other countries. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, Western Europe has had its hottest first two months of summer on record so far.
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This and That
Water Alert
THB Newsletter (07/17/26)
Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning MANDATORY Restrictions
As of July 17, 2026, Brunswick County remains in an Exceptional Drought according to the most recent update from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.
Due to the Exceptional Drought conditions, Brunswick County will remain under the Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning but will make slight changes to the MANDATORY restrictions list to allow for the use of automated irrigation systems once a week only (see below). This limited schedule would apply to automatic sprinkler systems for residential and commercial lawn and landscape irrigation.
Brunswick County will continue to monitor the drought conditions and water use to determine whether any changes to the Stage 3 Mandatory Restrictions (including the new limited irrigation schedule) may become necessary.
Stage 3 MANDATORY Water Restrictions Now In Effect — Use Water Wisely
Current Water Conservation Alert Level:
Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning MANDATORY Restrictions
As of July 10, 2026, Brunswick County has moved to a Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning MANDATORY Restrictions until further notice due to worsening drought conditions. Under Stage 3, all automated outdoor irrigation is prohibited. There are certain exemptions for commercial power washing and commercial car washing. Full details about all restrictions and fees are outlined on this webpage.
Nearly a third of Brunswick County is now under an Exceptional Drought (D4), which is the highest tier of drought possible. Under the Stage 3 alert level, Brunswick County Public Utilities water customers are required to adjust their water usage habits by following the MANDATORY water usage adjustments.
Brunswick County is monitoring water usage for all water customers using the County’s public water system and is issuing penalties for violations. This applies to all water customers, including wholesale customers, residents, businesses, new developments, etc. Learn more about the Stage 3 non-compliance penalties and fees below.
Brunswick County is actively monitoring the drought conditions and customers’ water usage to determine whether a Stage 4 Water Shortage Warning with Mandatory Restrictions may become necessary. In Stage 4, most outdoor irrigation methods are prohibited and penalties for non-compliance will increase.
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Stage 3 Water Shortage Alert: Addressing Water Usage Questions
PUBLIC NOTICE
Brunswick County appreciates the cooperation and commitment of our water customers who have taken diligent steps to follow the Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning MANDATORY Restrictions and the local burn ban while Exceptional Drought (D4) conditions are affecting our county. Exceptional Drought (D4) is the highest tier of drought possible on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale.
Your efforts to limit irrigation and other non-essential uses of water in and around your property are making a significant impact on protecting our water resources and public safety during this Exceptional Drought period. Thank you for helping spread out the demands on our public water system.
Addressing Questions About Water Usage Under Stage 3 Restrictions
Brunswick County has received some questions about allowed water usage under Stage 3 Water Shortage restrictions that we wish to clarify for customers. Thank you for your questions and patience as we work together to help conserve water during this Exceptional Drought period.
Can I fill my pool under Stage 3 Water Shortage restrictions?
The filling of family, public, or private swimming pools, including wading pools, hot tubs, spas, and whirlpool tubs, is prohibited, except for:
Can irrigation companies and licensed inspectors test irrigation systems under Stage 3 Water Shortage restrictions?
Yes, irrigation companies and licensed inspectors performing home irrigation inspections can run irrigation systems for up to five (5) minutes for testing. Please provide an invoice or other documentation (inclusive of the inspection date) to the property owner in the event their account is flagged for non-compliant irrigating.
Can I irrigate recently installed sod under Stage 3 Water Shortage restrictions?
Automated outdoor irrigation can be used for maintaining newly installed landscapes, lawns, and erosion control projects that are under a written warranty and that were initiated prior to the issuance of the Extreme Drought Advisory on June 26, 2026, not to exceed the minimum rate necessary on the day of installation and for 28 days following installation, by means designed and operated to maximize water use efficiency and to prevent run-off and excessive watering. Documentation verifying the installation date (inclusive of digitally date-stamped photos, the warranty, receipts with installation address, name, and phone number, etc.) must be provided via email to Brunswick County at utilityadmin@brunswickcountync.gov, and an approval email from Brunswick County must be received and kept in possession prior to irrigating.
Who is affected by these Stage 3 MANDATORY Water Restrictions?
This Stage 3 MANDATORY Alert affects all customers of the following public water systems:
Brunswick County Public Utilities provides water service in unincorporated portions of Brunswick County as well as the following communities: Boiling Spring Lakes, Bolivia, Calabash, Carolina Shores, Caswell Beach, Navassa, Northwest, Sandy Creek, Shallotte, Southport, St. James, Sunset Beach, and Varnamtown.
Utilities customers of Bald Head Island, Holden Beach, Oak Island, and Ocean Isle Beach are under the same restrictions since these utilities receive their water from Brunswick County Public Utilities.
Who is NOT affected by these Stage 3 MANDATORY Water Restrictions?
This Stage 3 MANDATORY Alert does NOT apply to properties that use water sources outside of the County’s public water system.
Why is Brunswick County Public Utilities under more strict restrictions than other utility systems?
Every utility system has their own Water Shortage Response Plan that they follow to determine when to issue voluntary or mandatory water alerts. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released on July 9, 2026, Brunswick County is currently under Exceptional Drought (D4) conditions, which is the highest tier possible on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale.
When Brunswick County issued a Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert on June 26, 2026, a majority of Brunswick County was under Extreme Drought (D3) conditions. Nearly a third of Brunswick County is now under Exceptional Drought (D4) conditions, which is contributing significantly to the increase in irrigation demands and may impact the availability of source water from the Cape Fear River.
You can view North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council’s (NCMDAC) Current Drought Explainer at ncdrought.org.
Where can I find more information about Stage 3 Water Shortage restrictions?
A full list of MANDATORY water usage adjustments and any exceptions can be found online at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise.
Community members and property owners who have questions should contact their water service provider directly or Brunswick County Public Utilities at utilityadmin@brunswickcountync.gov or through our temporary call center. Call center information can be found at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise.
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THB Newsletter (08/11/26)
Updated Water Shortage Mandatory Restrictions
Brunswick County remains in an Exceptional Drought (D4) according to the most recent update from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.
Due to this drought classification, Brunswick County remains under the Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning but has updated the MANDATORY restrictions list to allow for the use of automated irrigation systems twice a week only.
This limited schedule would apply to automatic sprinkler systems for residential and commercial lawn and landscape irrigation.
Brunswick County is monitoring several factors to determine when changes to the current water restriction stage might be applied. These factors include the overall daily water usage, weather forecasts, rainfall amounts, drought conditions, and the future drought designation from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
A full list of MANDATORY water usage adjustments and any exceptions can be found online at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise.
With Brunswick in extreme drought, what it’ll take to ease water woes
Despite multiple rainfalls over the last month, data shows Brunswick County’s critical drought conditions remains with the sizzling summer heat. Brunswick County is staying in the highest level of drought according to the most recent update from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (NCMDAC), according to a recent news release from the county. Brunswick has been classified as an Exceptional Drought (D4) county since July 9, the highest tier on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale. The county first announced a stage one water conservation alert on June 9. County officials moved to a mandatory stage two water conservation alert on June 26, restricting irrigation from specific days and times for residents using public water. By July 10, the county jumped to stage three water shortage warning with mandatory restrictions due to nearly a third of Brunswick being classified under an Exceptional Drought. That day, county officials began prohibiting automated outdoor irrigation and pool filling for Brunswick County Public Utilities water customers.
Where Brunswick compares to other counties in North Carolina
Most of the state is still in moderate to severe drought, with Brunswick experiencing the worst drought conditions, according to a Aug. 6 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) news release. Rain was hit or miss in the Wilmington area during the first week of August, with just above three inches of rainfall in Wilmington but only 0.71-inches around Longwood, as stated in a Aug. 4 drought update on the NCMDAC website. As of Aug. 6, most of Brunswick remains under severe and exceptional drought conditions. “A rainy July brought steady improvements in drought conditions across most of North Carolina. Groundwater and reservoir levels have been slower to recover. It’s only the beginning of August so we expect higher temperatures and increased water demand for at least another month,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the NCMDAC and NCDEQ Water Resources engineer.
Nearly 20 inches of rain is needed to catch up
This is the driest the county has been in 15 years, according to the Drought scale. The NOAA Drought Termination and Amelioration map shows the Wilmington area, including Brunswick, needing roughly 17 more inches of rainfall to end the drought by Sept. 9. National Weather Service Meteorologist Jordan Baker said the Wilmington area has a daily rainfall average of .24 inches during this time of year — typically because of tropical systems. Though the Wilmington area has had roughly 11.35 inches of rain in the last month, Baker said southern Brunswick has only had 4.17 in the last month and is already running in a water deficit. A deficit can increase quickly when there is no rain for one or more days at this time of year, Baker said. “We definitely need the rain, but when it comes in thunderstorms and scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon, it misses a lot of different places,” Baker said.
Water restrictions still stand for Brunswick
Under the county’s Stage 3 limited irrigation schedule, water customers may only water lawns and landscaping with automatic irrigation systems less than one inch of water per week, between the hours of 8 p.m.-4 a.m. on designated days. There are certain exemptions for commercial power washing and commercial car washing. Full details about the restrictions and fees can be found on the county website. Residents who have questions should contact their water service provider directly or Brunswick County Public Utilities at 910-253-2657 or utilityadmin@brunswickcountync.gov.
Funding available for impacted small businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans to small businesses and private nonprofit organizations in North Carolina to offset economic losses caused by a drought beginning on April 28. The disaster declaration covers numerous counties, including Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover and Pender counties. Dillon and Horry counties in South Carolina were also listed. Under the declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries and private nonprofit organizations — including faith-based organizations — with financial losses directly related to the drought. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises. The loan amount and terms are on each applicant’s financial condition. Loans can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.625% for private nonprofit organizations, with terms of up to 30 years. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills which could not be paid due to the drought. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Jan. 19, 2027. To apply online visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, dial 711 to access telecommunications relay services.
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THB Newsletter (08/17/26)
Brunswick County Moves from Stage 3 to Stage 2 Water Restrictions
Due to encouraging trends in drought conditions, water usage and system demands, Brunswick County has moved from a Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning to a Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert. Under Stage 2, some water restrictions are reduced or removed and the automatic irrigation schedule is expanded.
Stage 2 – Key Reminders & Main Restrictions
This is a select list of some of the main differences under a Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert. See the full list on the website at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise.
A full list of MANDATORY water usage adjustments and any exceptions, as well as penalties (fees) for violations, can be found online at BrunswickCountyNC.gov/WaterWise.
Turtle Watch Program –
Turtle Watch Program – 2026
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The first nest of the 2025 season was on May 21st
Average annual number of nests is 45
Current nest count – (75) as of 08/22/26
Members of the patrol started riding the beach every morning on May 1 and will do so through October looking for signs of turtle nests.
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Record turtle nesting season underway at Holden Beach — if the heat doesn’t derail it
Volunteers say rising temperatures could affect sea turtle sex ratios over time
Volunteers with the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Patrol are seeing record-setting nest counts this summer even as relentless July heat raises concerns about hatchling survival and the people spending nights on the sand to protect them. Much of the work happens while most beachgoers sleep. On a recent overnight shift, a small patrol crew raked the beach smooth and posted nest signage, routine prep that helps volunteers spot fresh tracks at first light and identify new nests that need to be marked and monitored.
Nest numbers up sharply from last year
Steve McNeil, the patrol’s project coordinator, said the season has already eclipsed last year’s total. “Last year we had 35-26 nests, this year, we’re already up to 69,” McNeil said. The heat is taking a toll across the beach, McNeil said — including on volunteers and visitors. “The heat impacts a lot of people, even the vacationers, a lot of people saying it’s just too hot to be out here,” he said.
Heat can shift turtle sex ratios
Patrol members say the temperature of the sand does more than make the work uncomfortable: It can influence the sex of the hatchlings. Sand above 85 degrees increases the likelihood of female hatchlings, a concept volunteers sum up with a beachside saying: “Hot chicks, cool dudes.” Deva Tucker, the patrol’s president, said prolonged heat without rain could skew those ratios over time. “It’s gonna be hotter, deeper without the rain to bring some cool air and bring some cooler temperatures in, it can definitely sway the ratio of male to female and over the years that definitely could be a problem if you have more females,” Tucker said.
Cooked eggs a documented concern
Donna McGowan, who has volunteered with the patrol for 17 years, said extreme heat could produce troubling findings during nest excavations. “It’s very troublesome when you go in to excavate and inventory, and you see some unhatched eggs, and you open it, and it looks like it’s been cooked,” McGowan said. She said the patrol has not seen that so far this season. Volunteers sometimes relocate nests if they are laid in vulnerable areas — such as below the tide line — or if a turtle cannot clear a steep escarpment, patrol members said. Otherwise, they leave nests in place and monitor them through the incubation period.
Volunteers say turtles are resilient
Volunteer Beth Baker says the turtles’ instincts help them manage conditions that are harder on the humans monitoring them. “Their intuition, their instinct tells them what to do. So they manage somehow. I would say we suffer more than the turtles do, that’s my guess,” Baker said. To learn more about the mission of the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Patrol and how to get involved, click here.
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How you can protect sea turtles at NC beaches during nesting season
People aren’t the only folks flocking to North Carolina’s beaches as the weather warms up. In the coming weeks, beachgoers could find themselves sharing the sand with mamma sea turtles and shorebirds looking for a spot to start a new family. Already, skimmers, oystercatchers and other birds are vying for space on the sandy spits at the tips of barrier islands like Wrightsville Beach, and North Carolina has already seen one false crawl by a sea turtle even though sea turtle nesting season doesn’t generally start until May 1, according to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. But sharing the beach can be a challenge, with the deck largely stacked against coastal wildlife as the lure of sand and the ocean keeps attracting more and more people to the N.C. coast − never mind the other challenges the animals face in the wild off the beach. Still, officials say following a few simple rules can give the critters a flipper and wing up during their beach visit. “Seeing a sea turtle on the beach is a wonderful, rare experience,” said Terry Meyer, deputy and conservation director at the Karen Beasley Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Surf City. “But just keep a respectful distance while enjoying it.”
One in 1,000
Sea turtle nesting season in North Carolina occurs from May through September. Female sea turtles emerge from the ocean at night, and using their flippers, dig an 18-inch-deep hole that will serve as the nest where she will deposit 80 to 120 eggs. After laying the eggs, she covers the nest and returns to sea. After about a 60-day incubation period, the hatchlings emerge and make their way to the ocean. Only about one in 1,000 hatchlings will live to reproduce. In 2025 North Carolina recorded 1,088 nests, with the first one recorded on Topsail Island on May 8, 2025. The first nest to emerge was a Kemp’s Ridley nest on Ocean Isle Beach on July 10, 2025. The vast majority of North Carolina nests were laid by loggerheads. Green sea turtle nest numbers are slowly increasing in the state, with Tar Heel beaches seeing 58 last year. There also were 10 Kemp’s Ridley nests.
Range of threats
Both in the water and on land, sea turtles face a range of threats. In the ocean, dangers range from entanglement in fishing gear to boat strikes to ingesting plastics and other trash. But that’s if the hatchlings even make it off the beach to have a life at sea. “Our No. 1 greatest threat by far is artificial lighting,” Meyer said. She said it’s the biggest concern because the lights can not only disorientate the nesting female as she comes ashore, but also hatchlings as they move toward the brightest light they see when they come out of their nest. In a perfect world, that’s the moon or the stars as they make their way toward the ocean. And it isn’t just exterior lighting that is a problem. Meyer said a recent study found 57% of the light pollution along the Topsail Island beachfront was from interior lights − a major concern since many oceanfront homes don’t have shades or curtains on their ocean-facing windows. Factor in a rotating mix of residents as vacationers cycle on and off the island almost weekly and it’s a constant battle for the turtle volunteers and others to get the message about lighting out there. “We just can’t stay ahead of the light situation,” Meyer said, noting volunteers hand out door hangers warning about the danger of keeping lights on at night and promote the use of turtle-friendly ambient light bulbs for exterior uses instead of traditional bulbs. “It’s definitely a challenge.” Predators like foxes and raccoons along with overanxious tourists eager to see and get selfies with a giant marine reptile that predates the dinosaurs are other challenges nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings can face. Climate change also is a growing concern. On the beach, the warming weather is increasing sand temperatures, which helps determine the sex of hatchlings as the buried eggs incubate. If the beach is warmer than 89 degrees, most of the hatchlings will be female; if it’s cooler more will be male. For a long time, researchers have believed that the cooler beaches in the Carolinas produced males to mate with the female-heavy hatchlings produced by the warmer beaches in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. But what will happen if all the country’s beaches get so warm that the vast majority of hatchlings are female? A warming climate, which scientists are predicting for North Carolina in the coming years, also could impact when sea turtles nest, prompting turtles to lumber ashore earlier than the traditional May start date.
‘Fill in those holes’
The Topsail Turtle Project, run by the sea turtle hospital, monitors the beaches in Topsail Beach, Surf City and North Topsail Beach. With volunteer groups in other beach towns along with federal and state agencies, officials monitor all 330 miles of ocean-facing sandy beaches in N.C. for sea turtle nests, stranded animals and even signs of false crawls. “We want them all counted, all documented,” Meyer said. “We want to know how many turtles we have.” If an injured or stressed sea turtle is found, it often ends up at the sea turtle hospital. As of April 21, the turtle hospital was treating 45 patients − most cold-stun victims from this winter that were slowly being nursed back to health. Kathy Zagzebski, the hospital’s executive director, said during the busy fall and winter season the facility sometimes deals with more than 100 turtles at a time, many cold-stunned animals brought down from New England for treatment. Recovery times can often take several months per turtle. As the weather warms up, the hospital sees fewer turtles being brought in suffering from hypothermia or other temperature-related issues. But the animals that are brought in are often those that have been accidently hooked by a fishermen or hit by a boat. “We usually see fewer turtles, but those that we do see probably require more treatment,” Kathy said. Like Meyer, Zagzebski said just taking a few steps and being considerate can help people and sea turtles better share the state’s coastal environment. “And fill in those holes,” she said, noting that holes dug on the beach can deter mother sea turtles from nesting and prevent hatchlings from reaching the ocean after they emerge from the nest.
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The N.C. Sea Turtle Project works with 20 different volunteer groups. Contact information for each is available at nc-wild.org/seaturtles/contacts, or call the statewide sea turtle hotline at 252-241-7367.
How North Carolina sea turtles are faring this summer
As the weather warms and the summer season heats up, people and turtles are crowding N.C. beaches. Here are some tips on how everyone can share the coast
The height of summer along the N.C. coast means several things: People hitting the beach for a vacation; steaming and sticky temperatures; the occasional pop-up afternoon shower; and female sea turtles lumbering ashore looking for a place to nest. But sharing the beach can be a challenge, with the deck largely stacked against coastal wildlife as the lure of sand and the ocean keeps attracting more and more people to the N.C. coast − never mind the other obstacles sea turtles face in the wild off the beach. While adapted to dealing with soaring temperatures, climate change is another growing challenge the marine reptiles face that could have significant impacts on the species’ future. Here’s a mid-season look at sea turtle nesting in North Carolina, which represents just about the northern range of the animal’s nesting habitat.
Nesting so far in 2026
Sea turtle nesting season in North Carolina occurs from May through September. Female sea turtles emerge from the ocean at night, and using their flippers, dig an 18-inch-deep hole that will serve as the nest where she will deposit 80 to 120 eggs. After laying the eggs, she covers the nest and returns to sea. After about a 60-day incubation period, the hatchlings emerge and make their way to the ocean. Only about one in 1,000 hatchlings will live to reproduce. Through July 2, 2026, North Carolina beaches had been busy, with sea turtles laying 1,054 nests, representing an estimated 36,107 eggs, according to statistics compiled by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. As usual, the vast majority of nests are from loggerheads, with a handful of green and leatherback nests thrown in there. Areas with the most nests were Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, Oak Island, Topsail Island and Fort Fisher State Recreation Area. The first nest, surprisingly a leatherback, was recorded April 28 in Atlantic Beach, Carteret County. In 2025 North Carolina recorded 1,088 nests, with the first one recorded on Topsail Island on May 8, 2025. The first nest to emerge was a Kemp’s Ridley nest on Ocean Isle Beach on July 10, 2025. The state saw 1,385 nests in 2024, and 1,723 nests in 2023. That means 2026 is off to a generally strong start for the turtles, which have federal and state protections − although nest numbers can be highly variable from year to year.
Challenges mother and baby sea turtles face
Natural predators and excited, curious humans are some of the challenges turtles face while trying to nest. Officials recommend viewing a sea turtle on the beach from a respectful distance. Nests also are marked to keep humans a safe distance away and often covered in anti-predator cages to prevent foxes, coyotes and raccoons from digging them up. Occasionally, nests also are relocated if they are buried in areas suffering from severe erosion or if threatened from over wash by storms. Even if a mother successfully nests and the hatchling emerge from the sand, the challenges aren’t over. One of the biggest threats baby sea turtles on the beach face is beach lighting. Lights can not only disorientate the nesting female as she comes ashore, but also hatchlings as they move toward the brightest light they see when they come out of their nest. In a perfect world, which should be the moon or the stars as they make their way toward the ocean. And it isn’t just exterior lighting that is a problem. A recent study on Topsail Island found 57% of the light pollution came from interior lights − a major concern since many oceanfront homes don’t have shades or curtains on their ocean-facing windows. Factor in a rotating mix of residents as vacationers cycle on and off the island almost weekly and it’s a constant battle for the turtle volunteers and others to get the message about lighting out there.
How rising temperatures could impact sea turtles
Climate change also is a growing concern among turtle researchers. On the beach, the warming weather is increasing sand temperatures, which helps determine the sex of hatchlings as the buried eggs incubate. If the beach is warmer than 89 degrees, most of the hatchlings will be female; if it’s cooler more will be male. For a long time, researchers have believed that the cooler beaches in the Carolinas produced males to mate with the female-heavy hatchlings produced by the warmer beaches in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. But what will happen if all the country’s beaches get so warm that the vast majority of hatchlings are female? A warming climate, which scientists are predicting for North Carolina in the coming years, also could impact when sea turtles nest, prompting turtles to lumber ashore earlier than the traditional May start date.
Tips if you see a nesting sea turtle
Here are some recommendations by the state wildlife commission on how beach visitors can help protect sea turtles during nesting season.
Contact information for the groups is available at nc-wild.org/seaturtles/contacts, or call the statewide sea turtle hotline at 252-241-7367.
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Fauna & Flora –
NC State Native Plant Resources » click here
NC Native Plants for Pollinators » click here
NC Sea Grant Coastal Landscapes » click here
New Hanover County Arboretum Native Plant Garden » click here
Audubon Native Plant Database » click here
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox » click here
Fauna & Flora » click here
Holden Beach recommended plant list – deer resistant & salt tolerant
Factoid That May Interest Only Me
ENSO Alert System Status: El Niño Advisory
El Niño is strengthening, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter 2026-27.
El Niño strengthened over the past month, with sea surface temperature anomalies exceeding +2.0°C in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The July Niño index values were +1.4°C in Niño-3.4, +1.7°C in Niño-3, and +2.9°C in Niño-1+2. The equatorial subsurface temperature index (average from 180°-100°W) increased during July, reflecting a deeper-than-average thermocline. Subsurface temperature anomalies were significant, reaching +10.0°C at depth. Low-level westerly wind anomalies and upper-level easterly wind anomalies extended from the western to east-central equatorial Pacific. Convection and rainfall were enhanced from the central to eastern Pacific and were suppressed over Indonesia. The traditional and equatorial Southern Oscillation indices were significantly negative, with values near 2 standard deviations during July. Collectively, the coupled ocean-atmosphere system reflected a strengthening El Niño. The CPC Official ENSO outlook, which synthesizes multiple models from North America and abroad, indicates El Niño will continue to strengthen through the end of the year. During the October-December 2026 season, there is a 69% chance of a historic event that would exceed the strength of previous El Niño events dating back to 1950 (+2.5°C or more for a 3-month RONI value). With an event of this magnitude, the chances of experiencing impacts consistent with El Niño are larger, but they are not guaranteed (see CPC outlooks for probabilities of seasonal anomalies). In summary, El Niño is strengthening, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter 2026-27. This discussion is a consolidated effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA’s National Weather Service, and their funded institutions. Oceanic and atmospheric conditions are updated weekly on the Climate Prediction Center web site (El Niño/La Niña Current Conditions and Expert Discussions). A probabilistic strength forecast is available here. The next ENSO Diagnostics Discussion is scheduled for 10 September 2026. To receive an e-mail notification when the monthly ENSO Diagnostic Discussions are released, please send an e-mail message to: ncep.list.enso-update@noaa.gov.
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El Niño could become strongest on record. What it means for North Carolina
A potentially record-breaking El Niño is changing the forecast for the months ahead in North Carolina — including hurricane season and winter.
A rapidly strengthening El Niño could become the strongest on record, potentially suppressing Atlantic hurricanes this fall while increasing North Carolina’s chances of a wetter winter after months of drought strained water supplies across the state. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday there is a greater than 90% chance of a “very strong” El Niño developing during the fall and winter. Forecasters say there is nearly a 70% chance it reaches an intensity not seen in NOAA records dating to 1950. “We never know exactly what’s going to occur, but in North Carolina during an El Niño, we tend to see wetter weather,” said Lindsey Long, a meteorologist with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “So we can expect more rainfall over North Carolina this winter.”
What is El Niño?
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern that begins in the tropical Pacific Ocean but can alter weather thousands of miles away. Normally, trade winds near the equator push warm surface water westward across the Pacific. During El Niño, those winds weaken, allowing warm water to shift eastward and changing atmospheric circulation. Long said weakening trade winds and pulses of warm water moving across the Pacific are helping this year’s El Niño intensify. NOAA measures El Niño using the Relative Oceanic Niño Index, or RONI, which compares temperatures in a key region of the equatorial Pacific with temperatures across the broader tropical oceans. The measure is designed to better account for the background warming of the world’s oceans. The strongest El Niño in NOAA’s record reached a RONI value of 2.5 degrees Celsius above normal during the 1982-83 event. Long said forecasts indicate this event could reach 2.5 to 2.6 degrees Celsius this winter, potentially setting a new record. July already had the second-highest sea surface temperatures NOAA has recorded in the Niño 3.4 region, Long said.
What could El Niño mean for hurricane season?
For the East Coast, a strong El Niño can come with an unusual benefit during hurricane season. El Niño typically increases vertical wind shear over the Atlantic. Those changing winds at different levels of the atmosphere can disrupt developing tropical systems, making it harder for hurricanes to organize and strengthen. “For hurricanes, that’s kind of a killer,” Long said. “The winds in upper levels just destroy the structure of the hurricane, and so they can’t really get going.” Long said that effect is already contributing to relatively quiet Atlantic activity this August, despite very warm Atlantic waters that would otherwise be favorable for storms. El Niño does not eliminate the threat of hurricanes or guarantee North Carolina will avoid a landfall. It shifts the odds toward less overall Atlantic activity.
Could El Niño help North Carolina’s drought?
The effects could continue long after hurricane season ends. El Niño tends to favor wetter-than-normal conditions across the southern United States during winter, including North Carolina. That could be particularly significant this year. North Carolina experienced its second-driest January through June on record, with rainfall nearly 9 inches below normal. Earlier this summer, low reservoirs and other water supply concerns prompted mandatory conservation measures in several communities. Long said a wetter winter could help ease some of that pressure, although there is no guarantee. “I know that you guys have had a very severe drought that’s been long-lasting, so hopefully this will help decrease that burden on the water supply,” Long said. “But again, no guarantee, but it does greatly increase the odds that we’ll see some wetter weather.” More precipitation could also mean more opportunities for snow or ice if storms coincide with sufficiently cold temperatures. “I would say the odds are higher for winter weather, just because of increased chances for precipitation,” Long said.
Record strength doesn’t guarantee record impacts
Even if this El Niño becomes the strongest measured by NOAA, that does not mean North Carolina will experience record impacts. Each El Niño develops differently, and the phenomenon changes the probability of certain weather patterns rather than determining exactly what will happen in a particular place. Long said NOAA’s forecast should be viewed as an opportunity to prepare for a potentially wetter season while continuing to follow shorter-term forecasts as winter approaches. The event is also developing amid unusually warm oceans globally, but scientists are still studying exactly how human-caused climate change may alter El Niño and La Niña. NOAA expects El Niño to continue strengthening through the fall and peak during the coming winter.
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Storm Events
Hurricane Vehicle Decals
Property owners were provided with four (4) decals that were included in there water bill. It is important that you place your decals in your vehicle or in a safe place. A $10 fee will be assessed to anyone who needs to obtain either additional or replacement decals. Decals will not be issued in the 24-hour period before an anticipated order of evacuation.
The decals are your passes to get back onto the island to check your property in the event that an emergency would necessitate restricting access to the island. Decals must be displayed in the driver side lower left-hand corner of the windshield, where they are not obstructed by any other items. Officials must be able to clearly read the decal from outside the vehicle.
Property owners without a valid decal will not be allowed on the island during restricted access. No other method of identification is accepted in an emergency situation. Click here to visit the Town website to find out more information regarding decals and emergency situations.
NC General Statute 166A-19.22
Power of municipalities and counties to enact ordinances to deal with states of emergency.
Synopsis – The governing body may impose by declaration or enacted ordinance, prohibitions, and restrictions during a state of emergency. This includes the prohibition and restriction of movements of people in public places, including imposing a curfew; directing or compelling the voluntary or mandatory evacuation of all or part of the population, controlling ingress and egress of an emergency area, and providing for the closure of streets, roads, highways, bridges, public vehicular areas. All prohibitions and restrictions imposed by declaration or ordinance shall take effect immediately upon publication of the declaration unless the declaration sets a later time. The prohibitions and restrictions shall expire when they are terminated by the official or entity that imposed them, or when the state of emergency terminates.
Violation – Any person who violates any provisions of an ordinance or a declaration enacted or declared pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Hot Button Issues
Subjects that are important to people and about which they have strong opinions
Climate
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There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
Flood Insurance Program
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National Flood Insurance Program: Reauthorization
Congress must periodically renew the NFIP’s statutory authority to operate. On February 3, 2026, the president signed legislation passed by Congress that extends the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) authorization to September 30, 2026.
Congress must now reauthorize the NFIP
by no later than 11:59 pm on September 30, 2026.
GenX
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Homeowners Insurance
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Homeowners are paying much more for insurance —
and keeping coverage is getting harder
Homeowners insurance costs are swelling rapidly for consumers — and even for those able to pay, policies are getting harder to keep as insurers drop customers at a higher rate, according to a new industry report. Average premiums for homeowners insurance rose faster than inflation across all major regions of the country from 2018 to 2024, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group that represents state insurance regulators. Consumers saw their average premiums rise by 18% in the Northeast, 25% in the Midwest, 27% in the Southeast and 43% in the West over that seven-year period, even after accounting for inflation, according to the report, which broke out data across four regional zones. Average premiums were highest in the Southeast, at $1,818 per year in 2024, while those in the Northeast were lowest at $1,396, NAIC said. Premiums have risen another 7% since the beginning of 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index. The index doesn’t necessarily reflect consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, but provides a proxy for the movement of premiums over time, according to the National Association of Realtors. The report, compiled with data from state insurance agencies, was the group’s first comprehensive data analysis of the homeowners insurance market in several years, NAIC officials said. Climate change, rising home rebuilding costs and other factors have driven up financial risk for insurers, who are passing that financial burden on to consumers, at least in part, insurance experts said. Meanwhile, the dynamic is straining homeowners amid a broader affordability crunch and a U.S. inflation rate that has been above policymakers’ target for more than five years. People’s ability to afford a home is about 10% lower than it would otherwise be if insurance costs had remained stable since the late 1990s, according to NAR. The expense disproportionately burdens low-income households, who are more likely to drop their coverage altogether — and put their house, often their largest financial asset, at risk if disaster strikes, said Peter Kochenburger, an insurance expert and a visiting professor of law at Southern University Law Center. “It’s a big problem,” Kochenburger said of rising costs for consumers. The NAIC analysis also showed that insurers are dropping customers at elevated rates, opting not to renew their policies when their terms expire. This generally happens when an insurer thinks the risk outweighs their profit potential, Kochenburger said. Nonrenewal rates per 1,000 in-force policies have increased across the country since 2018, by anywhere from 96% in the Southeast to 216% in the West, NAIC found. These nonrenewals are those initiated by insurance companies. There were 103 million homeowners insurance policies in force in the U.S. as of 2024, according to NAIC. “The data tells the story of a homeowners insurance market that is overall operationally robust but nonetheless under pressure and exhibiting signs of stress,” the report’s co-authors, Jeffrey Czajkowski and Paula Harms, wrote. “These trends support consumer sentiment that coverage is becoming more expensive and harder to find or keep in some places,” they wrote.
Why homeowners insurance costs are rising
The report’s findings broadly echo those of other analyses in recent years. The U.S. Treasury Department, for example, said in a report last year that average premiums per policy increased 8.7% faster than the rate of inflation from 2018 to 2022. A poll conducted this year by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan research group, found that 42% of homeowners said their costs had gone up “a lot” in recent years. Consumers generally buy homeowners insurance as a form of financial protection against unexpected physical damage to their house. Mortgage lenders also often require prospective homebuyers to buy such an insurance policy to secure a loan. If homeowners insurance becomes too pricey for consumers, there could be a “cascading or domino effect” in the U.S. economy — for example, if fewer people choose to buy homes, Kochenburger said. He said he thinks climate risk is the main driver of rising premiums. Climate change has fueled an increase in the number — and intensity — of severe weather events like wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and floods. The dynamic increases the likelihood that policyholders will need to file insurance claims and the odds that those claims will be for higher amounts, experts said. The number of weather and climate disasters that caused more than $1 billion in damage increased more than fivefold from 2018 through 2022, compared with the 1980s, after adjusting for inflation, according to the Treasury Department. “Catastrophic risk — these hurricanes, wildfire, severe convective storms, winter storms — these are events that are happening more and more frequently,” Czajkowski, director of the NAIC Center for Insurance Policy and Research, told CNBC in an interview. “And they’re impacting consumers.” The elevated risk comes as the Trump administration has moved to dismantle the federal government’s efforts to fight climate change and reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. While those natural disasters are more obvious in certain parts of the country — wildfires in the West and hurricanes in the Southeast, for example — weather-related risks are growing throughout the country, Kochenburger said. “Hail is a significant source of property damage, and that occurs in a number of states that don’t have much coastal exposure,” he said, as an example. However, factors beyond climate risk also contribute to higher insurance costs. For example, inflation has increased the cost of repairing and rebuilding homes, thereby raising the amount insurers pay out when policyholders file an insurance claim, experts said. Replacement costs for property and casualty-related losses increased by 45%, on average, between 2020 and 2023, according to the Treasury Department. Homeowners insurance is a type of property and casualty insurance. The NAIC data may even undersell the scope of the issue. For one, since the report only breaks out costs by regional zones, it’s “likely” that there are smaller, local areas where premiums have risen much faster than a particular region, according to the NAIC report. It’s also “quite possible” policyholders reduced coverage to blunt the impact of rising premiums, “which would likely show up in the data as a decrease or no change in premium,” it said. Insurers have also generally made their policies less comprehensive over the years, perhaps by removing certain risks from a general homeowners policy or reducing the dollar limits for certain coverage, Kochenburger said.
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Hurricane Season
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Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30
NOAA maintains prediction for below-normal Atlantic hurricane season
Need for U.S. residents to prepare remains
With the climatological peak of hurricane season approaching in early September, NOAA’s prediction for below-normal activity in the Atlantic basin remains. Forecasters from NOAA’s National Weather Service updated today the number of expected named storms to 7-13 (with winds of 39 mph or greater), of which 2-6 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater), including 0-2 major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater). These ranges cover the entire season from June 1 through November 30 and are inclusive of the two tropical storms that have already formed. NOAA forecasters predict a 75% chance for below-normal activity, with a 20% chance of a near-normal season, and just a 5% chance of above-normal activity. This updated prediction is similar to the initial outlook issued in May. In the Atlantic basin, a typical hurricane season will yield 14 named storms, of which seven become hurricanes, including three major hurricanes.
Only Gulf storms in the Atlantic Basin so far
To date, the 2026 season has produced two named tropical storms, Arthur and Bertha, and no hurricanes. Tropical Storm Arthur was the first named storm of the Atlantic season. Forming in mid-June in the warm Gulf of America waters off the Texas coast, Arthur brought record rainfall to portions of Louisiana and spawned tornadoes along the Gulf coast. Bertha also formed in the Gulf, originating south of the Florida panhandle before making landfall in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. “Inland rainfall is a major cause of damage from tropical storms and hurricanes, as Arthur demonstrated,” said NOAA’s National Weather Service Director Ken Graham. “That’s why it’s important to prepare for every storm that’s projected to impact your area, even if it never reaches hurricane strength.”
Factors influencing the Atlantic hurricane season outlook
For the remainder of the season, tropical storm activity in the Atlantic basin is expected to be tempered by El Nino conditions, which first emerged in the equatorial Pacific in June. El Nino increases wind shear, which tends to prevent tropical storms from forming or from getting stronger once formed. Other less influential factors include temperatures near average in the Atlantic Ocean and a neutral west African monsoon. “When El Nino emerges, it usually becomes the dominant factor in total hurricane season activity, and this El Nino continues to get stronger every month,” said Matt Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s National Weather Service.“Compared to a mature El Nino, other mechanisms play a smaller role in determining the number and intensity of tropical storms in the Atlantic basin.”
Hurricane outlooks in other ocean basins
Although El Nino tends to limit tropical activity in the Atlantic, it can enhance storm development in the Pacific. NOAA’s outlook for the Eastern Pacific hurricane season remains unchanged with 15-22 named storms, which is above average. So far there have been seven named storms, of which two became hurricanes, including one major hurricane. An above-normal season is also expected in the Central Pacific basin, with 5-13 named storms and tropical depressions.
About NOAA’s Hurricane Season Outlook
NOAA’s Hurricane Season Outlook is for overall seasonal activity and is not a landfall forecast. Landfalls are largely determined by short-term weather patterns, which are only predictable within about a week of a storm potentially reaching land. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) provides tropical weather outlooks out to seven days in advance, provides track and intensity forecasts for individual storms and issues watches and warnings for specific tropical storms, hurricanes and the associated storm surge.
Stay informed
Consult the NHC website, hurricanes.gov, for the latest about tropical storm and hurricane activity in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins. You can also follow regular updates from NHC on X at @NHC_Atlantic offsite link and on Facebook. You can also access additional tips and resources to stay safe this season.
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Why the 2026 hurricane season is so quiet; what it means for NC coast
So far the 2026 hurricane season, which started June 1, has been very slow. How slow? It’s the quietest start to a hurricane season this century. Why?
For most of this hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center’s online map of the Atlantic basin has been showing a surprising image and message. Nothing with this text superimposed on the map: “Tropical cyclone activity is not expected during the next 7 days.” So far the 2026 season, which started June 1, has been the quietest start to a hurricane season this century. There have only been three named storms so far, and they’ve lasted a combined four days. Tropical Storm Arthur brought significant rain to parts of the Gulf coast and Southeastern United States in mid-June, but only after it dissipated. Tropical Storm Bertha in mid-July also brought rain to parts of the Gulf but didn’t cause much of a ruckus. And Tropical Storm Cristobal in August hung around for about a day in the middle of the Atlantic before petering out. Even a pair of tropical disturbances that held the possibility of forming into something or even combining into a bigger system before hitting the Caribbean in mid-August fizzled out. So what’s going on, and how soon could we see Dolly and Edouard?
The 2026 season is both normal and unusual
According to the hurricane center, things aren’t actually that unusual this year. “The first named storm typically forms in mid- to late June, the first hurricane tends to form in early to mid-August, and the first major hurricane forms in late August or early September,” the agency states on its website. The busiest part of hurricane season also runs roughly from mid-August into early October, with the peak day for activity being Sept. 10. But according to another factor, this season is a strange one. The Weather Channel reports that the accumulated cyclone energy, which measures how long storms last and how strong they get, for this hurricane season is unusually low. According to the weather site, the 2026 season is the slowest-starting hurricane season in terms of accumulated cyclone energy since 1998.
Enter El Niño
Across the board, meteorologists say the strengthening El Niño in the equatorial Pacific is playing a large role in squashing tropical activity in the Atlantic basin. El Niño is a natural climate pattern in which surface seawater temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are warmer than normal. Meaning Little Boy in Spanish, El Niño was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America with the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific around Christmas. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there’s a nearly 70% chance it could develop into a “super” El Niño, meaning its impacts could be greater than normal. If a super El Niño does develop, it could supercharge weather events across the world. For the U.S. South, which could mean wetter conditions with more heavy rainfall events this fall and winter − bringing much-needed relief to the ongoing drought situation in much of the Tar Heel State. In a world already cooking hotter than normal thanks to climate change, the weather pattern also could amplify extreme heat already baking much of the world. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2025 was the third warmest year on record, only trailing 2024 and 2023, with sea-surface temperatures also setting records despite cooling La Niña weather patterns. El Niño can have a significant impact on the severity of the hurricane season in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the Atlantic, the weather pattern tends to reduce activity in the tropical Atlantic by bringing on stronger upper-level wind shear and sinking air, hindering the formation of tropical weather systems, while having the opposite effect and boosting activity in the Pacific. The Northwest Pacific has already seen three Category 5 storms this season, and in the Central Pacific Hurricane Lala just finished lashing Hawaii with 90 mph winds.
What happens now?
The latest forecast from Colorado State University is only calling for nine named storms this season, which would be an exceptionally low total, especially given how warm most of the tropical Atlantic is right now. In effect, the Caribbean has largely become a no-go zone for hurricane formation. “That’s a great indication of the power of El Niño, that it can develop in the Pacific, but still have a controlling role in weather patterns half a world away,” said N.C. Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis. While North Carolina missing out on tropical weather might sound good on paper, it also comes with some other impacts. One of those is a loss of the rainfall such a system would bring to Eastern North Carolina, an area that largely remains in drought or a very dry state as of late August. The region relies on passing tropical weather for much of its summer precipitation that helps farmers and recharges underground aquifers. According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, the Port City had seen 25.3 inches of rain in 2026 as of Aug. 18. That compares to a normal average of nearly 36 inches. “Wilmington averages more than 8 inches of rain in both August and September, and it’s hard to get that much from the sort of spotty showers and storms we’ve seen in recent weeks,” Davis said. “While we certainly don’t wish for anything tropical, some areas could definitely use the rain to make a dent in this drought.” But on the flip side, El Niño normally brings above-average rainfall to the U.S. Southeast in the fall and winter. During the last strong El Niño in 2015, Wilmington has its wettest October on record and fourth-wettest winter, Davis said. “This all feels like a be-careful-what-you-wish-for sort of situation,” he said. “We need the rain now, but we’ll probably be sick of it in a few months.” Tim Armstrong, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Wilmington office, said even with El Niño hindering storm development across much of the tropics, which doesn’t mean Southeastern N.C. is out of the woods for storm development. “There’s still the subtropical Atlantic we have to watch closely,” he said. “El Niño doesn’t affect shear as much outside of the tropics, so a locally grown storm could more easily develop this fall and bring impacts to the Carolinas.” Past examples of these types of storms include Ophelia in 2005 and Diana in 1984. And the unnamed storm that swamped southern New Hanover County and parts of Brunswick County with 20 inches of rain in 2024 was another one of these storms, he added. Officials also continue to stress to coastal residents that even if it appears to be a relatively quiet season, it only takes one storm arriving on your doorstep to make it a terrible hurricane season. “And our own work suggests that it is very difficult to predict that quantity on a year-to-year basis since you are dealing with the statistics are very small numbers,” said Dr. Michael Mann, a meteorologist and scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. “But we do know that there is an increase over time in the maximum intensity of these storms driven by human-caused warming.”
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Inlet Hazard Areas
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Lockwood Folly Inlet
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Seismic Testing / Offshore Drilling
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Offshore Wind Farms
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Things I Think I Think
Eating out is one of the great little joys of life.
Restaurant Review:
The Dinner Club visits a new restaurant once a month. Ratings reflect the reviewer’s reaction to food, ambience and service, with price taken into consideration.
///// July 2026
Name: Savorez
Cuisine: Latin American
Location: 402 Chestnut St, Wilmington, NC 28401
Contact: 910.833.8894 / https://savorez.com/
Food: Average / Very Good / Excellent / Exceptional
Service: Efficient / Proficient / Professional / Expert
Ambience: Drab / Plain / Distinct / Elegant
Cost: $21 Inexpensive <=20 / Moderate <=26 / Expensive <=35 / Exorbitant <=60
Rating: Two Stars
Chef Sam Cahoon opened Savorez in 2018, blending Latin flavors with Southern cooking through fresh, local, and sustainable ingredients. The name says it all: “Savorez” means “flavors” in Spanish. Located just off the beaten path, Savorez is a very small, unpretentious spot with limited seating for only thirty guests. The atmosphere is comfortable, friendly, casual, nothing fancy in this cozy restaurant. The same menu is served at lunch and dinner, and it is fairly limited, offering only seven entrée options. The venue feels too small for its popularity, and because reservations are not accepted, dining there can be a challenge. Despite being ranked #2 out of 699 Wilmington restaurants, our experience did not match the praise. Frankly, we were not impressed, and it did not live up to that kind of rating.
Chianti South set to re-open in Little River under new ownership
A popular Little River Italian restaurant is returning with a new look and feel. Chianti South, located just before the North Carolina state line on Highway 17, is planning to re-open soon under new ownership. The restaurant originally opened back in 1997 and was known for its Italian cuisine and award-winning wine list. It closed down in 2024 after a property sale, but new ownership — led by popular North Carolina restaurateur James Lane — will re-open the restaurant under the same name. “There will be remodeling, for sure,” a spokesperson with Lane’s organization told MyHorryNews. “You’ll see some updates in the building, but it will be a similar menu and dining experience. I think we will open back up with the same nostalgic feeling that people have always had at Chianti South.” Lane owns several restaurants over the state line in Brunswick County, including Lucca Italian Chophouse in Shallotte, Maria’s Pizzeria in Ocean Isle Beach and Oak & Palm in Sunset Beach. The next step for Lane and the business will be crossing over into South Carolina; the re-opened Chianti South will be similar to what locals remembered the restaurant to be. “The menu will reflect a remembrance of Chanti South,” the spokesperson said. “All of our pastas will be house-made, including ravioli and we will have great high-quality steaks and chops, as well.” No date was given on when the restaurant expects to open, although progress and renovations are already being made at the location. Management says they are looking forward to giving back to the Horry County community and putting on events that benefit the area and local charities.
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Editor’s note –
Lane’s organization owns Sorella restaurant in Holden Beach too
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Name: Sorella
Cuisine: Italian Restaurant
Location: 3219 Holden Beach Road, Supply NC
Contact: 910.842.2177 / https://www.sorellapizzapasta.com/
Food: Average / Very Good / Excellent / Exceptional
Service: Efficient / Proficient / Professional / Expert
Ambience: Drab / Plain / Distinct / Elegant
Cost: $22 Inexpensive <=$20 / Moderate <=$26 / Expensive <=$35 / Exorbitant <=$60
Rating: Two Stars
Sorella means sister in Italian, they are the sister restaurant of Maria’s Pizzeria in Ocean Isle Beach and Lucca in Shallotte. Located on the causeway to Holden Beach, they are open daily at 11:00 am. A local authentic Italian restaurant, a casual atmosphere, with a limited menu, serving a wide variety of pizzas, pastas, and some traditional Italian dishes. This is one of the better restaurant offerings in the area.
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Name: Lucca Italian Chop House
Cuisine: Italian
Location: 4924 MainStreet, Shallotte NC
Contact: 910.754.2334 / https://www.luccachophouse.com/
Food: Average / Very Good / Excellent/ Exceptional
Service: Efficient / Proficient /Professional / Expert
Ambience: Drab/ Plain / Distinct / Elegant
Cost: $26 Inexpensive<=20 / Moderate <=26 /Expensive <=35 / Exorbitant <=60
Rating: Two Stars
Lucca is a local Italian restaurant, dining in a casual relaxed atmosphere with a menu that offers something for everyone. An exceptional value, the food is very good, the portions are generous, and the prices are reasonable. All in all, we had a nice meal there, but it really wasn’t anything special.
Dining Guide – Local * Lou’s Views
Dining Guide – North * Lou’s Views
Dining Guide – South * Lou’s Views
Restaurant Reviews – North * Lou’s Views
Restaurant Reviews – South * Lou’s Views
Book Review:
Read several books from The New York Times best sellers fiction list monthly
Selection represents this month’s pick of the litter
THE HUNTER by Tana French
A divorced American retired detective tries to blend into rural Ireland in this sequel to the 2015’s The Searcher. At the heart of the story is Cal who moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s absentee father, Johnny, comes back to town intent on perpetrating a swindle on the townsfolk. His cockamamie scheme sets in motion a series of crimes, including a murder, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat.
THE KEEPER by Tana French
In the final installment of the Cal Hooper trilogy, retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper tries to preserve the quiet life he has built in a remote Irish village. But when a young woman is found dead in the river, Cal and his fiancée are drawn into a dangerous investigation that exposes local tensions, long-buried secrets, and a corrupt land-development scheme threatening both the town and the fragile new life he has worked so carefully to create.
That’s it for this newsletter
See you next month
Lou’s Views . HBPOIN
