Blue Thread
August 9, 2017

“IT CAME IN THE NIGHT…”

Charles Gore had been a resident of Ingleside for nearly 10 years when he awoke suddenly at three in the morning to the sounds of a raging hurricane. Looking out of the window, he couldn’t see the pier that jutted from his backyard into Broad Creek—only the seething of dark waves.

A NEIGHBORHOOD UNDER WATER

The neighborhood of Ingleside lies in a waterfront suburb of Norfolk, Virginia—a city that simultaneously relies on and lies under threat from the sea. Sitting at the mouth of the Elizabeth River where it pours into the Chesapeake Bay, only just above sea level, her residents are no strangers to flooding.

In Ingleside, homes like Charles Gore’s, with backyards directly on the creek, risk flooding with nearly every large storm event. Hurricanes and nor’easters spinning into the coast trap the tidal waters against the shore, causing the creek to spill its banks into the neighborhood.

Residents further inland find their properties threatened by rainwater flooding as clogged drainage ditches allow storm water runoff to flood yards and streets.

 

THE INGLESIDE PROJECT

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