I fight we can win

[general hoke]

WE NEED HELP. Today I went to Rodanthe to go to work and could not get through because the road was flooded...again. It only blew 20mph out of the NE and the road was flooded. What if I had had Sabra with me which I almost did. What if we were on the other side and could not get to the hospital?

I am sooo pissed off. This shit has gone on too long and nothing is ever done about it. I am forming a committee and pushing for an artificial reef to help with erosion, help the fish and oysters all that crap. I need example of where artificial reefs helped in other parts of the world. You are the web surfer master RY and you have a small army of people on this forum who have enough empathy to help. I need help gathering material to present in a slide show or something to the local government and I need the press to pressure to fuck nuts in the state and Federal government to do something.

The policy of taking zero prevenative action is not acceptable. If it where Long Island or anywhere else in the US the media would be on it and steps would be taken to build the reef. Every State with a caost does it but ours. The problem is compounded by the dredgeing of the inlet for the benifit of richer towns to the north. It floods there everytime it blows NE and has for 40 years (when they started to dredge the inlet). No beach nourishment, no jetties, no sinking of ships, no nothing. It just continues to flood and cut us off from the world and the government does NOTHING because of stupid environmental groups. The same who let our bridge a 2 out 100 in safety not be replaced. The governor (Easly a neocon) has the power in a emergencey which this certainly is to do something about it. I want to go up there with a bag of ammo and facts.

Please help me. I have a little on reefballs, I remember a long time ago I started this and Melborn had saved themselves with a reef but I can't find it now. SC has tons of artificial reefs and the have helped the fish as well as erosion.

We have one road on or off the island and it is flooded a good 30 times a year. It is not safe, it destroys the economy and NOTHING is ever done about it.

[NOTALOWBROW]

Hoke, probably a good place to start is forming a local group of people who want what you want. Name your group and communicate with local government through the group.

Some interesting stuff (you probably already saw this but for others who are interested)

From the Reefball Foundation:

http://www.reefball.org/index.html


Here's what they say about funding artificial reef projects:
http://www.reefball.org/grantapp.htm


Finding funding for your project is always a challenge. Before you start anywhere else, the first place is to look at your local community resources. Few funders will provide assistance unless there is a strong community matching component. Even if your community does not have strong financial resources, components like volunteer labor, donations of boat use, scuba tank and equipment rentals, hotel space for trainers and volunteers and even meals for volunteers can all help. Find places in your community to build your reefs...perhaps donated space in a local concrete yard. And speaking of concrete....maybe that same concrete company has some left over waste concrete on rainy days or when someone ordered a bit more than they needed? Plan your project using our step by step guide and have a well written project proposal before you approach potential funders. Your next step will be to apply for our matching grant program.

Qualifying for a matching grant is simple and easy. Just send us a request on the letterhead of the applying organization. The requirements are:

* The project must be for public benefit
* A monitoring plan must be in place to include a minimum of two underwater digital photographings of your Reef Balls per year for a minimum of three years
* Proof of access to an artificial reef permit is required
* A publicity plan should be in place
* Qualifying grantees may purchase unlimited sizes or numbers of molds from us at our cost (40% off retail) but the molds obtained in this program will be restricted for use for your project or other qualifying grant projects only.
* A training manual is provided with molds, but if recommended on site training is elected the grantee's will enjoy a 1/3 discount on training fees from our trainers & if salaried foundation trainers are used there will be no training fees charged. :
* There are no matching discounts for shipping charges, tools, admixtures or other accessories.
* Grantee must show enough detail for us to reasonably assume the project can be accomplished.
* Reef Balls under this program cannot be used for erosion control projects under this grant unless a VERY significant public gain can be demonstrated.

If you elect to purchase finished Reef Balls, you are entitled to 10% off retail pricing from authorized contractors

Other requirements may include:

* Translations services are responsibility of grantee
* Grantee must have access to e-mail
* Project may not use other artificial reef materials not considered acceptable by our Foundation Board

[NOTALOWBROW]

Reefballs for erosion control

great photos on this link

an introductory video:
please embed

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[Ian]

http://www.artificialreefs.org/

http://www.reefball.com/whatsball.htm

http://www.reefball.org/educ/lessonplans.htm


Wish I could be of more help

[ledskof]

I know nothing about the solution but I believe in your cause and will donate to help it.

[general hoke]

Thank you everyone. I woke up at 6:40am to get to the island today and got all the way to Rodanthe on the North end of the island and the DOT blocked the road. I could not go to work because of it. There is only one road on a narrow island that is 200 yards wide and 60 miles long. For one stretch it is 3 miles wide for about 9 miles and that is where people live but access is shut down because of flooding all the time. It has flooded routinely for decades and the beach is owned by the Federal Government because you have to drive through a National park/seashore to get to the lower half of the island. No action has ever benn taken, no reef, no nurishment, no sand bags nothing.

The problem is that the local politics like it. Our County, Dare County, has 35,000 year round people of which only 5,000 live on Hatteras Island. When Hatteras floods the tourist have to stay in Nags Head instead so the local government dominated by Nags Head does nothing. It fills there hotels and restaurants.

Hatteras has a committee and we have all these good points not just about the economy but saftey. There is no way off the island, no hospital etc..

We are ignored though for the reasons above. Nags Head has the balls to hold a meeting in Nags Head while the road is fucking flooded and the Hatteras folk cannot attend the meeting and of course our voice is not heard. Then they say well we can't have the meeting in Hatteras because the road might be flooded!

We need media. I want to go to the media with all the info on reefs and tell our story. I think sinking ships would work a hell of a lot better but the reefs are more likely to happen because it helps the fish and enviromentalist rule this part of the country.

Hatteras Island has one commissioner and Nags Head has 17. How do you think the votes go? When Hatteras is cut off it helps Nags Head. This is the same reason our bridge is falling apart and is a 2 out of 100 in safety yet they have built 2 new bridges for Nags Head one of them 6 miles long. They want us flooded they want our bridge to fall all they care about is money and if the tourist can't get to Hatteras they are stuck in Nags Head.

[general hoke]

I understand we all want the war to end and for Israel to stop what it does to Palistine and we would like the Federal Reserve abolished etc....

But if we put the energy into some of these local problems perhaps we could make a difference. It is like Che said and did. In Cube they took the victories they could no matter how small and chipped away till they won. This is what we need. We need to get involved locally and grow. I thank you all for the links.

[Ry]

Ill make a youtube video explaining the situation. What the politicians need is pressure put on them by the rest of the country learning about how bad the situation is there.

[Phys]

I don’t know what to do, but I will help anyway I can. That sucks. I also agree you should start small. It’s like the old saying how do you eat an elephant? One bit at a time. lol

[IrrigatedPancake]

Hoke, Louisiana's coast has been eroding for a long time and when ever a hurricane comes by it takes out a big chunk, so people have been thinking about how to regenerate the coasts mostly for the purpose of creating a buffer zone where hurricanes can die down before hitting populated areas and to support wildlife used for seafood.

I don't know a lot about it, but now and then it is mentioned in the news, so that might be a place to find people who know something about how to do that.