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week after Hurricane Irene hit, it became apparent that the shores of the Bay River were struck especially hard. It wasn’t the winds — at least not directly — that did all the damage. It was mainly the water.

On Hwy 304 in Maribel at the Church of God of Prophecy. Many piles of house debris or fallen limbs lined the highway. The piles grew more frequent further up Hwy 304 in Lowland and Hobucken and up Hwy 307 in Vandemere.

That was the case in Vandemere, on the Bay River’s north shore. Many homes flooded. Some we spoke to said that relatives were trapped on second floors of their homes until Irene’s storm surge ebbed.

While many homes in Vandemere flooded, many cars were saved by parking on the town’s high spot, a field across from the volunteer fire department station. One person thought, parked on Hiway 304 and while the truck stayed dry, it was crushed when a tree fell on it.

As elsewhere in Pamlico County, no one was killed in Vandemere. But Irene did leave many homes wet, people homeless and lots of work ahead.

Ahead, photos of Camp Vandemere which was inundated during the hurricane, and a bit down the road, boat designer Graham Byrnes’ B&B Yachts and the catamaran hulls that proved they do indeed float.

On Friday, 7 days after Irene hit, Dawn Skurry and Beth Bucksot stand on the pile of insulation they pulled out from under the Vandemere home of Beth’s parents, Carla and Graham Byrnes. They wore white haz mat suits for the job earlier in the week. (Dawn’s polka-dot boots have been on her feet for days, she says.) Beth Bucksot says that listening or reading the media, she gets the sense that people who haven’t seen her area “don’t have a clue” about “how extensive the damage is.”

Camp Vandemere.

Camp Vandemere was swamped. Look out from the buildings there and the waters of the Bay River seem almost level with the grass — they’re actually a few feet lower. During Irene, the waters were chest high when they got to the buildings. Windows were punched out in some buildings. Another moved off of its footings.

Camp Vandemere, whose lawn is just a few feet above the Bay River’s normal height, had storm surge waters rush through and destroy buildings. One structure was even moved several feet off its foundation. Each summer, 800-1,000 campers go to the camp which his run by the Free Will Baptist Church of eastern NC.

The dining hall at Camp Vandemere.

The camp is run by the Free Will Baptist Church of eastern North Carolina. The camp’s director Rick Price said there had been some talk in recent years about elevating the buildings. He said he thinks that as the camp rebuilds, the structures will be higher.

The dormitory at Camp Vandemere where 80 to 100 campers would sleep. Camp director Rick Price says that in advance of Hurricane Irene, he had the bunkbeds lashed together so that as a mass they’d stay together. Water was chest high in that and other buildings. The receding water left a sandbar effect on the floor.

6 days after Hurricane Irene hit, a view through a hallway looking from the parking lot to Camp Vandemere’s front lawn. That darker band above the grass line, is the Bay River. The camp’s director, Rick Price says there had been discussion for some time about elevating the buildings. The Free Will Baptist Church will likely be doing that now, he says.

First though, there’s the cleanup to be done. About a hundred volunteers are expected the second weekend in September.

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Posted Wednesday September 7, 2011 by Melinda Penkava

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