The keepers’ dwellings at Bodie Island Lighthouse and Ocracoke Lighthouse, two iconic tourist attractions on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, are being severely threatened by beach erosion. Flooding could soon damage the historic structures, Cape Hatteras park superintendent David Hallac has told the Charlotte Observer. And flood waters could soon surround the lighthouses themselves, according to Hallac.
Hallac believes the keepers’ houses should be raised onto higher foundations, but that would probably be no more than a temporary solution. According to a National Park Service study that was released in May, the ocean is expected to rise as much as 2.5 feet along the Outer Banks in the next 80 years.
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Candace was the US Lighthouse Society historian from 2016 until she passed away in August 2018. For 30 years, her work involved lighthouse history. She worked with the National Park Service and the Council of American Maritime Museums. She was a noted author and was considered the most knowledgable person on lighthouse information at the National Archives. Books by Candace Clifford include: Women who Kept the Lights: a History of Thirty-eight Female Lighthouse Keepers , Mind the Light Katie, and Maine Lighthouses, Documentation of their Past.