Floodwaters and Foundations on the Eastern Shore

_By Tiffany Amber Stockton

Tucked away in a quiet corner of southeastern Kentucky, my little nook is usually spared the brunt of nature’s wilder tantrums. But my beloved Chincoteague Island? Not so fortunate.

Dancing with the Elements

Let’s start with a geography lesson...with a twist.

Many in the U.S. aren't familiar with the name Delmarva. And I get it. This area often gets overlooked as insignificant. Many regions do, especially if they don't create national impact. But this peninsula is made up of DELaware, plus parts of MARyland and VirginiA. Pretty straightforward, right? Not for everyone, as I've learned. Chalk it up to being raised in the area and surrounded by the regional influences. :)

Years ago, during a family reunion on Chincoteague, I told a relative I was from Delaware. They blinked at me and asked, “Where’s that?” Rather than spell it out, I asked them if they knew the name of the peninsula where they lived, and they said, "Delmarva, of course." I then asked what the name Delmarva meant. Their answer? “That’s the electric company!”

Cue my teenage eye roll.

Eventually, I asked them to name the states that make up Delmarva. Some got Virginia and Maryland right away. Delaware? Crickets. Now, mind you, Delaware isn’t just one of the three. It actually takes up over 60% of the land area. For lifelong residents of the peninsula not to know that? That’s a sad commentary on the state of geographic literacy in our country. But I digress.

Forgotten in the Forecasts

Just as Delaware often gets left out of conversations, so does Delmarva when it comes to national weather reports. Hurricanes are tracked up the Eastern Seaboard with warnings issued for Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, New Jersey, and New York. But Delmarva and the MidAtlantic? Often skipped.

And yet, this region has experienced record-breaking flooding after some of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history. One such nor'easter in 1933 permanently severed a barrier island just south of Ocean City, MD and created 2 separate islands. Storms in this area hit quite hard with lasting effects.

Why? Because of how the weather systems collide.

Hurricanes coming from the southeast often clash with cold fronts sweeping toward the coast from the northwest. The result? A swirling, soggy mess that parks itself right over the peninsula, dumping rain for days. Historically, these storm patterns affected everything from local farming to smuggling operations during the Revolutionary War, when blockade runners would navigate Chincoteague Harbor to move goods south.

But when the peninsula turned into a swampy floodplain in late summer, travel became treacherous. There was more marshland than dry ground. One of these storms occurred when the famous horse, Misty, was about to give birth to one of her foals. He was named Stormy, as a result.

Wading Through Chincoteague

Flooding isn’t a freak occurrence on Chincoteague. It’s part of the rhythm of life.

As a kid visiting in late summer, I remember rolling up my jeans and kicking off my sandals to wade through water that sometimes reached our knees...or higher! On stormy weeks, residents would break out rowboats to navigate the streets. Picture this: getting dressed for Sunday meeting, only to pile into a boat instead of a car.

Some folks swoon over the gondolas of Venice, Italy. But I’m not so sure I’d enjoy that as a yearly lifestyle. There’s a fine line between charming and exhausting. And Chincoteague’s flooding can easily tip the scales.

The Aftermath and Adaptations

Of course, it’s not all whimsical boat rides and soggy socks. Flooding brings real danger. Property loss, structural damage, and sometimes even loss of life. That’s why so many homes and buildings on Chincoteague are built elevated, with raised foundations or full-blown stilt systems, much like beachfront homes all across the coastlines.

When storms destroy, rebuilds happen. Elevation has now become a way to survive.

Rain Boots and Resilience

Having grown up all around the Chesapeake Bay, I’ve seen my share of hurricanes, nor’easters, and relentless downpours that stretch for days.

My most recent visit to Chincoteague? Pony Penning Day. Unlike the last time I visited and had to trudge around the island with soaked shoes and mud-splattered legs, this time the weather cooperated with blue skies and warm temperatures. The ponies? Totally unfazed. The soggy marshland is their playground.

And it’s not just summer rains that cause trouble. Winter storms combined with high tides have also brought eerie sights. Ice floating in flooded streets. Snow meeting saltwater. Frozen sheets of water. A frosty floodplain.

Chincoteague takes it all in stride, just like the ponies. The islanders adapt, rebuild, and press on. It’s part of their story. And thanks to family roots and muddy memories, it’s part of mine, too.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* Have you ever experienced flooding where you live? How did your community adapt or prepare for future storms?

* If you lived on Chincoteague Island, would you embrace the “boat-to-church” adventure or head for higher ground?

* Do you know the geography of your own region? What fun or surprising facts could you share that most people overlook?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below.

** This note is for our email readers. Please do not reply via email with any comments. View the blog online and scroll down to the comments section.

Come back on the 9th of each month for my next foray into historical tidbits to share.

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has embellished stories since childhood, thanks to a very active imagination and notations of talking entirely too much. Honing those skills led her to careers as an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, while also working as a professional copywriter/copyeditor. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help them just get rooted and live a life of purpose.

Currently, she lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, two dogs, and five cats in southeastern Kentucky. In her 20+ years as a professional writer, she has sold twenty-six (26) books so far and has agent representation with Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Tiny Island, Big History

By Tiffany Amber Stockton

So, as if my life didn't have enough happening, I decided it was a good idea to sign on with a monthly challenge with a few other authors who are part of my local writer's chapter. Although I've remained consistent with article writing, copywriting and copyediting, it has been a few years since I last had a fiction novel release. This challenge is helping me flex those story muscles and form a daily habit that will lead to me finishing this book that has been sitting on my computer for far too long.

Although the research is already done, today I'm sharing a little background of unique facts about this little island called Chincoteague, just off the Eastern Shore of Virginia and to the east of the Delmarva Peninsula.

CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND

The history of human activity in Chincoteague, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, begins with the Native Americans. Settlers from Europe swooped in and overtook the land in the late 17th century, but until then, the Chincoteague Indians used it as a place to gather shellfish. They aren't known to have lived there, though, as the island lacked suitable soil for their agriculture. Marshland doesn't typically grow much of anything except reeds.

Picturesque view of Chincoteague away from the populated
portion of the island (looking toward Assateague)

Once the European settlers inhabited the island, a series of disputes over who would own the island ensued. That led to patents being issued and a final resolution of an even split between two gentleman. With ownership of the island settled, it mostly existed as a place to house livestock, since they could feed off the marsh grasses. No need for fences or other enclosures to prevent the animals from straying either. How far could the animals go when they're on an island surrounded by water? (grins)

This led to the origin of the ponies on Assateague, though legends reported a Spanish shipwreck which left the ponies as cargo to swim to the nearest island. Historians believe the legend of the shipwreck simply became entwined with the history of the ponies until it was accepted as "truth." Funny how history does that from time to time. Makes me wonder just how much of unrecorded history is truly fact or merely embellished truths spoken from generation to generation until the truth and the embellishment can no longer be separated. Have you ever come across details like this?

Anyway, back to Chincoteague.

Stanley Jester (a distant cousin) harvests oysters by hand at low
tide in his oyster bed in the shallows of Chincoteague Bay

For the next hundred years or so, the island remained a place to house livestock for owners living on the mainland of Virginia. Following the Revolutionary War, residents realized the potential of business and industry through the abundance of shellfish in the area. This industry became so big, shipments went as far north as New England to the cities steadily growing there, and as I mentioned last month, my grandfather's family lived here. It was shellfish being provided to the White House under President Woodrow Wilson which led to my great-grandfather's cousin marrying the president while he was in office, leaving me with a family connection to "American royalty."

Throughout these years of shellfish and seafood industry, Chincoteague thrived. In 1876, a rail line completed a stop just 5 miles from the island with a steamship completing the distance. This gave oystermen an efficient means of getting their shellfish to market and began the wave of tourists escaping the city heat in the summer. Tourism hasn't slowed since.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* If you had an island similar to Chincoteague just a short distance across a narrow channel from where you lived, what would you do with it?

* Are you a fan of shellfish or seafood? What's your favorite?

* What recounting of an event do you know where the real truth has been fused with legend or unrecorded history? How much is true and what is legend?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below.

** This note is for our email readers. Please do not reply via email with any comments. View the blog online and scroll down to the comments section.

Come back on the 9th of each month for my next foray into historical tidbits to share.

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has embellished stories since childhood, thanks to a very active imagination and notations of talking entirely too much. Honing those skills led her to careers as an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, while also working as a professional copywriter/copyeditor. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help improve their lives in a variety of ways, but especially from the inside out.

Currently, she lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, three dogs, and three cats in southeastern Kentucky. In her 20+ years as a professional writer, she has sold twenty-six (26) books so far and has agent representation with Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Flooding: Life on a Peninsula

By Tiffany Amber Stockton

Last month, we took a trip back to the Great Depression and life on Chincoteague Island, with a few little nuggets about my grandfather and how he and his family survived on a tiny little island. If you missed that post, you can read it here: https://www.hhhistory.com/2021/10/great-depression-island-life.html.

Ironically, my family and I have done a little bit of surviving ourselves this past month. Due to economic spikes and drastic inflation, we had to sell our home in Colorado and move to a more affordable state. So, I left one set of mountains and traded them for another. The Rocky Mountains and Pike's Peak for a cabin in the woods in the Cumberland Gap and the Appalachian Mountains just a little north of the Smokies. As you already know, I have family roots in Virginia, but I have some in Kentucky as well, and I wrote a Christmas story set in Gatlinburg, about 2 hours away.

We also downsized our population surroundings from 500,000 to 25,000 in a tri-county area. (grins) Now, I'm living in an area more like the Chincoteague Island folks with the small-town atmosphere and much slower pace. It is a definite welcome change. So many friends jokingly told me I'm moving "down to the holler." Well, this little nook is definitely tucked away, and like my Colorado home, protected from a lot of the elements like hurricanes or tornadoes.

Unfortunately, Chincoteague Island isn't protected from hurricanes. This month, we'll cover another occurrence which drastically affects life on the island -- flooding.

THE DELMARVA PENINSULA

For those who don't know, Delmarva is named for the 3 states which make up the land associated with the peninsula: DELaware, MARyland, and VirginiA.

A funny story to tell about my family. One year in my early teens, my mother's family held a reunion down on Chincoteague Island. At some point in a conversation, some family members asked me where I lived, and I answered Delaware. One asked me where that was. Being the somewhat passive aggressive and often sarcastic person that I can be, instead of answering, I asked for the name of the peninsula where they lived, and they answered Delmarva. I then asked why it's named that, and they responded it was the name of the electric company giving them power (which was true). Based on what I mentioned above, can you see my eyes rolling at this point? *grins*

I didn't see any other way to make my point without coming right out and asking what states make up the Delmarva Peninsula. So, I did. From some, I received blank looks, from others, I heard Virginia and Maryland for sure. This truly surprised me. Delaware is not only 1 of 3 states making up the peninsula, but it occupies 60% of the land area as well. For someone living on the peninsula to not know where Delaware is, well that's a sad testament of the lack of geographic education across the US.

So many overlook this tiny little state and its significance. And the same goes for the weather patterns which pass over this area. Quite often, hurricanes will take a path up the Eastern coastline, and when they approach the mid-Atlantic area, reports will address Virginia and New Jersey and New York but skip over Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula. However, record-breaking flooding levels have been reported from this area following destructive hurricanes in history.

With the way the weather patterns run, hurricanes enter from the southeast and collide with fronts coming from the northwest which lead to circular rainfall that stagnates and becomes stationary over the peninsula. Historically speaking, these storms have affected things like ships avoiding the British blockade of the Chesapeake Bay during the Revolutionary War. Smugglers would travel to the mainland via the Chincoteague harbor, then unload their goods and move them further south toward more populated areas. During the late summer, many years would find a good bit of the lower peninsula under water, so transporting goods became a significant challenge, especially with the pathways resembling a marshland than dry ground.

On Chincoteague Island, flooding is a reality the residents face each and every year. I remember visiting more often in my younger years, and if we were there in the later summer, we were rolling up our pant legs and kicking off our shoes and socks to wade in the waters that could rise as much as hip-high. On particularly stormy days or weeks in days gone by, residents of the island kept little boats handy and used them to navigate the streets. Can you imagine that? Getting dressed and hopping in a boat to go to Sunday meeting?

Some might be enamored with the idea of Venice, Italy with its gondolas and waterways throughout the city, but I'm not sure I'd be too fond of living like that every day...or even dealing with that as part of my reality each year. Sure, there's a certain level of "adventure" attached to travel and getting around during the flooding, but as it's been shown more than once, flooding can also come with devastating effects leading to complete destruction of buildings and structures, and many deaths and injuries.

Because of this reality, a lot of the homes and buildings on Chincoteague are built several feet above ground level with a raised foundation and steps leading to the main floor from the ground. Much like beachfront properties along the coastline will raise the homes on pillars and stilt-like poles, following the destruction of homes on the island, rebuilds would modify the foundation to allow for flooding and help prevent future damage at the main floor level.

Having grown up in and around the Chesapeake region, I have seen my fair share of hurricanes, nor'easters, and torrential downpours from storms that lasted for days and sometimes weeks. The most recent visit I made to Chincoteague Island was for Pony Penning Day with a friend and fellow author...and we spent it with soaked shoes and muddy feet. Thankfully, the ponies are used to marshland living, and they take it all in stride. *grins*

Nevertheless, the pouring rains and the location of the peninsula lend to very wet seasons most of the time. While I spent most of this post talking about summer storms, there have also been times when high tides meet winter storms and you have snow on the ground mixed with flooding in the streets. Quite the contrast causing floating ice and frozen sheets of water on the ground!

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* Have you ever been in the path of a hurricane, or had to evacuate as the result of the flooding and damage caused by one?

* Have you ever misjudged flooding while driving a car? What would you do if you encountered flooding while driving a horse and buggy? How does the threat of flooding change from the past compared to modern day?

* Would you still attend Pony Penning Day even in the midst of flooding or torrential downpours? Why or why not?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below. Next month, I'll do a themed post to wrap up the year and share some Christmas traditions on Chincoteague Island. Come back on the 9th of December to find out more.

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those skills to become an award-winning, best-selling author and speaker who is also an advocate for literacy as an educational consultant with Usborne Books. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help improve their lives in a variety of ways.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, two dogs, and two cats in Kentucky. She has sold twenty-four (24) books so far and is represented by Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Chincoteague - Enchanted Island

 By Tiffany Amber Stockton

This month, it's time for a little background of unique facts about this little island called Chincoteague, just off the Eastern Shore of Virginia and to the east of the Delmarva Peninsula.

CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND

The history of human activity in Chincoteague, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, begins with the Native Americans. Settlers from Europe swooped in and overtook the land in the late 17th century, but until then, the Chincoteague Indians used it as a place to gather shellfish. They aren't known to have lived there, though, as the island lacked suitable soil for their agriculture. Marshland isn't usually great for growing much of anything except reeds.

Picturesque view of Chincoteague away from the populated
portion of the island (looking toward Assateague)

Once the European settlers inhabited the island, there was a series of disputes over who would own the island which led to patents being issued and a final resolution of an even split between two gentleman. Once ownership of the island was settled, it was used mostly as a place to house livestock, since they could feed off the marsh grasses and there was no need for fences or other enclosures to prevent the animals from straying. How far could the animals go when they're on an island surrounded by water? (grins)

This was what led to the origin of the ponies on Assateague, though there are legends reported of a Spanish shipwreck which left the ponies as cargo to swim to the nearest island. Historians believe the legend of the shipwreck simply became entwined with the history of the ponies until it was accepted as "truth." Funny how history does that from time to time. Makes me wonder just how much of unrecorded history is truly fact or merely embellished truths spoken from generation to generation until the truth and the embellishment can no longer be separated. Have you ever come across details like this?

Anyway, back to Chincoteague.

Stanley Jester (a distant cousin) harvests oysters by hand at low
tide in his oyster bed in the shallows of Chincoteague Bay

For the next hundred years or so, the island remained a place to house livestock for owners living on the mainland of Virginia. Then, following the Revolutionary War, residents realized the potential of business and industry through the abundance of shellfish in the area. This industry became so big, shipments went as far north as New England to the cities steadily growing there, and as I mentioned last month, my grandfather's family lived here. It was shellfish being provided to the White House under President Woodrow Wilson which led to my great-grandfather's cousin marrying the president while he was in office, leaving me with a family connection to "American royalty."

Throughout these years of shellfish and seafood industry, Chincoteague thrived. In 1876, a rail line completed a stop just 5 miles from the island with a steamship completing the distance. This gave oystermen an efficient means of getting their shellfish to market and began the wave of tourists escaping the city heat in the summer. Tourism hasn't slowed since.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* If you had an island similar to Chincoteague just a short swim across a narrow channel from where you lived, what would you do with it?

* Are you a fan of shellfish or seafood? What's your favorite?

* What recounting of an event do you know where the real truth has been fused with legend or unrecorded history? How much is true and what is legend?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below. Don't forget to come back on the 9th of March to find out more about this tiny little island.

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those childhood skills to become an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker who is also an advocate for literacy as an educational consultant with Usborne Books. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help better their lives.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, two dogs, and two cats in Colorado. She has sold twenty (24) books so far and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Little Ponies and Saltwater Cowboys

By Tiffany Amber Stockton

Last month, I wrapped up the year's focus on Colorado history featuring a historical marker honoring the very first Christmas in this state. If you missed that post, you can read it here: https://www.hhhistory.com/2020/12/by-tiffany-amber-stockton-last-month-i.html.

Today, it's a new year, so we have a new theme. I'm in the process of writing a 3-book series set on a little island called Chincoteague, just off the Eastern Shore of Virginia. It will feature the stories of my family on my mother's side, many of whom grew up or spent a lot of years on the island.

CHINCOTEAGUE PONIES

I don't know about you, but growing up on the Delmarva Peninsula (made up of the entire state of Delaware, and parts of Maryland and Virginia) meant the 1947 book, Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry was famous in those parts. Everyone I knew had heard of or read this book, and the majority of them had actually been to the island itself.

For me, there's an even more personal connection, as my grandfather (mom's dad) grew up on the island. His father owned a barbershop there where he first learned to cut hair. In 1961, Marguerite's book was made into a movie, and the barber shop was featured in one scene. That shop was sold just prior to WWII when my grandfather's family moved to Washington, D.C. and a Father & Son barbershop was opened on Pennsylvania Avenue. In the early 1950's, my great-grandfather retired and returned to his beloved Chincoteague where he died in 1956. When my grandfather left D.C. to also return to Chincoteague in 1978, he took over ownership of a barbershop and continued cutting hair until he passed away in 1982.

I grew up hearing the stories of Misty and the BeeBee family on which Ms. Henry based her book. It wasn't until I was in my late teens when I realized there are several streets on Chincoteague island named after members of my family. There's no doubt in my mind that this connection is the primary reason for my love of horses as a little girl and even to this day.

So many evenings were spent reading about Misty, drawing pictures of horses, and dreaming one day of owning a horse of my own. We had a family reunion one year on Chincoteague, and it took place right around the time of the annual Pony Penning Day. This is a time when the ponies (who actually live and roam wild on the neighboring Assateague Island) are rounded up by the island's fire department volunteers and driven across the shallow channel between the islands.

This event has been taking place since 1925, and the men who do the roundup are called "saltwater cowboys" as they often have to get into the water with the ponies to keep them swimming toward Chincoteague or help the yearling foals swim.

Ms. Henry highlighted this event in her book, which went on to receive the coveted Newbery Award Medal for children's literature. As a child, I never really questioned much about the horses depicted in photographs, and their size never made a difference to me until I saw them up close and in person this one year during Pony Penning Day.

They weren't much taller than I was, and their bodies appeared to be rather plump. I learned this is because of their diet consisting mostly of the grass from the saltwater marshes surrounding Assateague. The salt actually stunts their growth and causes their bellies to be slightly bloated. There have even been times when these ponies have been connected to the Shetland Ponies, located on the Shetland Isles to the northeast of Scotland, but there is no tie between these two breeds.

For years, I was so enamored by Marguerite Henry and her stories. I've read every single one of her books about horses, and even one about a donkey named Brighty in the Grand Canyon. Once I began writing my own historical fiction, it never dawned on me to use Chincoteague as a setting in any of my books.

During a conversation with an editor at a writer's conference, I realized I had actually been putting Ms. Henry and her stories of Chincoteague on an unreachable pedestal. That editor laughed a bit and told me it had been 65 years since that story was written, which meant it was probably safe to use the island as a setting. (grins)

So, that's what I intend to do this year. That editor is interested in a series set on the island and including some of the stories of my family intertwined with the stories of the primary characters. Over the next several months and possibly through this entire year, I'll be featuring various aspects about Chincoteague and Assateague Islands as they pertain to the research I'll be doing for my newest series. Grab your reins and saddle up with me as we travel along this journey and engage in a little horseplay. *smile*

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* Have you ever read Misty of Chincoteague? Had you even heard of this book before reading this post?

* What is your favorite memory from childhood, and has that memory inspired anything you do or love to this day?

* Do you have any historical connections like this that beg to have their story told? What are they?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments below. Next month, I'll delve more into the history of Chincoteague Island.

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those childhood skills to become an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker who is also an advocate for literacy as an educational consultant with Usborne Books. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help better their lives.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, two dogs, and two cats in Colorado. She has sold twenty (24) books so far and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Rains Are Still Pouring Down!

By Tiffany Amber Stockton

Last month, we took a trip back to the Great Depression and life on Chincoteague Island, with a few little nuggets about my grandfather and how he and his family survived on a tiny little island. If you missed that post, you can read it here: http://www.hhhistory.com/2016/10/island-life-during-great-depression.html. This month, we'll cover another occurrence which drastically affects life on the island -- flooding.

THE DELMARVA PENINSULA

For those who don't know, Delmarva is named for the 3 states which make up the land associated with the peninsula: DELaware, MARyland, and VirginiA.

A funny story to tell about my family. One year in my early teens, my mother's family held a reunion down on Chincoteague Island. At some point in a conversation, some family members asked me where I lived, and I answered Delaware. One asked me where that was. Being the somewhat passive aggressive and often sarcastic person that I can be, instead of answering, I asked for the name of the peninsula where they lived, and they answered Delmarva. I then asked why it's named that, and they responded it was the name of the electric company giving them power (which was true). Based on what I mentioned above, can you see my eyes rolling at this point? *grins*

I didn't see any other way to make my point without coming right out and asking what states make up the Delmarva Peninsula. So, I did. From some, I received blank looks, from others, I heard Virginia and Maryland for sure. This truly surprised me. Delaware is not only 1 of 3 states making up the peninsula, but it occupies 60% of the land area as well. For someone living on the peninsula to not know where Delaware is, well that's a sad testament of the lack of geographic education across the US.

So many overlook this tiny little state and its significance. And the same goes for the weather patterns which pass over this area. Quite often, hurricanes will take a path up the Eastern coastline, and when they approach the mid-Atlantic area, reports will address Virginia and New Jersey and New York but skip over Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula. However, record-breaking flooding levels have been reported from this area following destructive hurricanes in history.

With the way the weather patterns run, hurricanes enter from the southeast and collide with fronts coming from the northwest which lead to circular rainfall that stagnates and becomes stationary over the peninsula. Historically speaking, these storms have affected things like ships avoiding the British blockade of the Chesapeake Bay during the Revolutionary War. Smugglers would travel to the mainland via the Chincoteague harbor, then unload their goods and move them further south toward more populated areas. During the late summer, many years would find a good bit of the lower peninsula under water, so transporting goods became a significant challenge, especially with the pathways resembling a marshland than dry ground.

On Chincoteague Island, flooding is a reality the residents face each and every year. I remember visiting more often in my younger years, and if we were there in the later summer, we were rolling up our pant legs and kicking off our shoes and socks to wade in the waters that could rise as much as hip-high. On particularly stormy days or weeks in days gone by, residents of the island kept little boats handy and used them to navigate the streets. Can you imagine that? Getting dressed and hopping in a boat to go to Sunday meeting?

Some might be enamored with the idea of Venice, Italy with its gondolas and waterways throughout the city, but I'm not sure I'd be too fond of living like that every day...or even dealing with that as part of my reality each year. Sure, there's a certain level of "adventure" attached to travel and getting around during the flooding, but as it's been shown more than once, flooding can also come with devastating effects leading to complete destruction of buildings and structures, and many deaths and injuries.

Because of this reality, a lot of the homes and buildings on Chincoteague are built several feet above ground level with a raised foundation and steps leading to the main floor from the ground. Much like beachfront properties along the coastline will raise the homes on pillars and stilt-like poles, following the destruction of homes on the island, rebuilds would modify the foundation to allow for flooding and help prevent future damage at the main floor level.

Having grown up in and around the Chesapeake region, I have seen my fair share of hurricanes, nor'easters, and torrential downpours from storms that lasted for days and sometimes weeks. The most recent visit I made to Chincoteague Island was for Pony Penning Day with a friend and fellow author...and we spent it with soaked shoes and muddy feet. Thankfully, the ponies are used to marshland living, and they take it all in stride. *grins*

Nevertheless, the pouring rains and the location of the peninsula lend to very wet seasons most of the time. While I spent most of this post talking about summer storms, there have also been times when high tides meet winter storms and you have snow on the ground mixed with flooding in the streets. Quite the contrast causing floating ice and frozen sheets of water on the ground!

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* Have you ever been in the path of a hurricane, or had to evacuate as the result of the flooding and damage caused by one?

* Have you ever misjudged flooding while driving a car? What would you do if you encountered flooding while driving a horse and buggy? How does the threat of flooding change from the past compared to modern day?

* Would you still attend Pony Penning Day even in the midst of flooding or torrential downpours? Why or why not?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below. Next month, I'll do a themed post to wrap up the year and share some Christmas traditions on Chincoteague Island. Come back on the 9th of December to find out more.

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BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those childhood skills to become an author and speaker who has partnered with Nerium International in the anti-aging, wellness, and personal development industry, helping others become their best from the inside out.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, in Colorado. They have one girl and one boy, and a Retriever mix named Roxie. She has sold twenty (21) books so far and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.