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eryl rolled in to Oriental Wednesday, and though only a tropical depresson by the time she arrived, she still gave pause. The 2012 Hurricane season hadn’t even started (it begins Friday) and here was not the first but the second named storm of the season. What’s more, memories were still quite fresh from Hurricane Irene, which just 9 months ago, almost to the day, flooded the village and Pamlico County.

One way to keep feet dry: stay inside the car. By this point at midday, roads in town were filling with water at the curbsides. Beryl would drop almost 3 inches of rain on Oriental in a few hours

A day ahead of Beryl’s arrival, the Town of Oriental’s Public Works department already deployed ‘High Water’ signs at all the usual low points downtown. Residents and businesses took steps to get things out of flood range. School closed early Wednesday.

For those who were glued to weather radar Wednesday, a familiar counter-clockwise movement. Here the floodwaters of Hodges Street circle the drain that leads to Oriental’s harbor.

As tropical formations go, Beryl inflicted little pain on Oriental. For one thing, the north winds didn’t do their usual number — pushing loads of water from the Sound in to Oriental’s creeks. There was, however, a lot of rain. 2.95 inches of it fell over the course of just a few hours Wednesday, a sudden influx that created large pools in the streets.

Water was almost knee deep near the curbs of the Town Dock.

While general flooding was avoided, Hodges Street, the Old Reliable of Flood Zones, did flood. Here are a few photos taken just after the last of the rains.

A car parked in the water during the storm. The whirlpool did not suck it down the drain.

In background, a boat named “Adagio” which means, leisurely, slowly. A pickup truck traverses the waters on Hodges Street. Behind the truck, at the wharf of the Town Dock, a visiting boat named, Adagio, meaning at a leisurely pace. Where there’s a will to go fast, there’s a wake.

A yellow underwater hook where the curb for the Wits End usually is found.

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Biscuit (on four legs) makes her way on the sidewalk as the waters recede after the storm.

Hodges Street, as viewed from Factory and Wall after Beryl left. The wet pavement was strewn with blossoms that the rain and winds took off from nearby oleander bushes.

High Water sign no longer necessary by late afternoon as some Oriental residents take a post-Beryl walk.

Under the live oaks along South Avenue and Oriental’s waterfront, pools of water left by Beryl’s rains

After the deluge: clear skies and high clouds over the Oriental anchorage and dinghy dock.

Mimosa tree near the Oriental Dinghy Dock, with red trawler from Point Pride seafood in background

Fallen mimosa bloom on boardwalk near Oriental Dinghy Dock.

Posted Thursday May 31, 2012 by Melinda Penkava