How did a barge end up in a hotel swimming pool on NC coast? Blame Hurricane Isaias
Cars and even roofs have been found in swimming pools since Hurricane Isaias made landfall in North Carolina, but something completely unexpected turned up in hard hit Southport: a barge.
The discovery was made Wednesday morning at an oceanfront hotel, and photos of the surreal scene were shared by the Facebook group BrunsCo, NC Storm Watch.
“It was our first pool check of the day and for a few minutes we just stood there in shock,” McKaylah Vining of Blue Water Pools and Spa Maintenance told McClatchy News. “The only thought I could vocalize was: ‘There’s an actual barge in this pool right now.’ Crazy, to say the least.”
The 7-foot-tall barge was shoved by storm surge through a cast iron fence and came to rest teetering over the pool’s deep end. A chrome handrail apparently kept it from completely capping the pool like a big, rusty lid.
Vining guesses “nothing short of a crane” will be needed to get it out.
It’s one of several strange things she has found doing pool inspections the past two days.
“The barge for sure was the most shocking, but close second is an SUV in a residential pool (on Oak Island),” Vining said. “We also had a pool that was completely filled with and covered with sand. The only thing marking it are the handle for the steps.”
In one case, a pool was also ripped out of the ground by the storm and cracked down the middle.
Isaias made landfall in Brunswick County at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Monday night as a Category 1 Hurricane, with winds of more than 80 mph. Southport, 23 miles away, saw extensive damage, particularly at its small boat marina. Dozens of boats were left piled atop each other, photos show.
Elsewhere, storm surge swept between homes, ripping off porches, sweeping away vehicles and burying streets under several feet of sand.
Three tornadoes touched down in Brunswick County as the storm passed, including one that had sustained winds of 104 mph, according to WWAY.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 4:42 PM with the headline "How did a barge end up in a hotel swimming pool on NC coast? Blame Hurricane Isaias."