Two Days in the Aftermath of Hurricane Irene: From Photo Ops to Photo Extreme | Eastern North Carolina Now

"Water, water everywhere, and more than enough to drink" here at the end of West Main Street ... but would you really want to? Above. Short Drive took water and much more later that evening: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

From the well blown bridge fording the most narrow point of the Pamlico River, we look back toward West Main Street, downtown Washington. Here we see a dark, rain swept scene: Above. Just moments later, we see a darker, more windswept scene.     photos by Stan Deatherage

From that bridge, we look in a more southerly direction, where it becomes more windy, more dark and very moist: Above. Notice the informational plaque designating the location of the resting place of the USS Picket, sunk in the Pamlico River during the American Civil War, Circa 1862. Even at around 11:00 am on this infamous Saturday, there were waves upon the moistened solid ground: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

My son, Stanhope, asked to join this short-lived adventure. Here along the deepening water along Stewart Parkway: Above. Stanhope, an ex-Coast Guard petty officer, was in his element: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

    Adding to the macabre scene of horizontal blown rain amidst the ghastly screeching / clank - then - groan of errant sailing vessels cast adrift, and serendipitously stiking one another if only just for effect. And what an effect it was: Eerily reminding me of the young Marines entering the ancient city of Quay, Vietnam, during the 1968 Tet Offensive, in the Stanley Kubrick classic “Full Metal Jacket.”

An Eerie scene it was along Washington's waterfront, from the parkway to the trestle: Above and below.     photos by Stan Deatherage
The view of East Main Street under 2 feet of water, where the Pamlico River meets the Jacks Creek and Main: Above and below.     photos by Stan Deatherage