>  > It turns out that the
>  > entirety of the Outer Banks is essentially being blown
>  > west
>  > by wind and wave, much to the chagrin of those who live
>  > there (and especially to those wealthy enough to buy a
>  > vacation home there).
>  >
>  > A great deal of effort is put into preventing this.
>
>  Is the rate much changed of recent times?

Yes and no.

No, because every hurricane at that latitude (whether it
hits the islands or not) causes a great deal of damage to
them, and one hurricane does pretty much the same kind
of damage as another in the same class.

Yes, because we've recently had a spike in the number and
intensity of tropical storms in that part of the world.

A couple of years ago one of the islands was quite literally
cut in half by a passing storm.  The islands themselves are
a remarkable thing- well worth seeing.  In many, many
places they are narrow enough to be a matter of minutes
to walk across, and yet they stretch long enough to require
hours to drive the length of them.  The traffic entering them
on weekends is quite horrendous, as well- all entry is by
one small bridge at the north end and one small bridge
at the southern end (and, I believe, MAYBE one ferry).

Mike H.
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