Boarding Up Beachfront Property High Priority Before Hurricane Irene Arrives

“Some romance is going to happen this weekend because out of devastation comes beautiful, great things,” said Sarah Maxwell as she did one last check of her Middle Beach East summer home before Hurricane Irene arrives.

Hurricanes have a special place in Maxwell’s heart as she met her husband during Hurricane Gloria, 26 years ago, when “all the locals went over to King George’s, which is like a local watering hole,” said Maxwell. 

Maxwell is a pro at getting ready for a storm like Hurricane Irene, saying she really doesn’t do anything different than what must be done to close it up every winter.  “We treat it like it’s going to be a horrible storm every year in the wintertime and we just batten down the hatches.”

Her preparation includes the following, “board up the windows, pull all the furniture in so there’s no projectiles, clean everything up,” she explained.

While Maxwell has many years of experience under her belt her neighbors to the west, Erin and Jim Burris are facing their first storm as beach front homeowners.  While their home has been in the Burris family since 1986, Erin and Jim became sole owners this summer.

“We’ve plyboarded up all the windows in the front, took all the furniture in, the boats came in off the beach, the electricity is off, we unplugged everything, the water’s turned off,” said Erin Burris.

While Jim Burris had to purchase plywood and screw it on the front of the house for Hurricane Irene, he said he is going to make sure he is all set for any future storms.   “I’m going to cut them a little bit tighter and install them with hooks and latches so then I just latch them on, drop them in and I don’t have to do anything else,” he explained.

Since the house has been in his family he can’t remember any incredibly damaging storms.  “It’s been pretty trouble free for about 20 years. No major, major storms,” said Jim Burris.  “Nothing that really did any major, major damage.  I think we’ve been pretty lucky.”

The Burris’ did everything they could to make sure their investment was well protected.  “I wasn’t going to let it be our first summer and have the house destroyed,” said Jim Burris.

My visit to the Maxwell and Burris houses was preceded by a courtesy call from Officer Bill Roy of the Madison Police Department.  “Just making sure that everybody’s received the emergency messages,” said Roy. 

He said they are finding that about 50% of the homeowners south of Route 1 are evacuating, while the other half are remaining in their homes.  “We can’t force them out right now, it’s not a mandatory evacuation it’s just strongly recommended.”