Portsmouth Firefighter Mike Pinksaw attaches a ribbon showing the high-water mark from the Hurricane of 38 as Emergency Management Director Jim Lowrimore measures.

Portsmouth Emergency Management Director Jim Lowrimore, with help from the Fire Department, set out ribbons on utility poles along Park Avenue showing the height of the storm surge from the Hurricane of 1938 which tore through Island Park. A small group of onlookers — mostly at the take-out window at Flo's Clam Shack — watched with mild interest as the bright blue plastic banners went up.

Looking at the height of the tape, 16 feet above the sidewalk at the foot of Cottage Ave, Lowrimore said, "There isn't a house here in Island Park that would be untouched by that."

The high water mark event was part of the "Get Hurricane Ready Rhode Island" campaign launched in July by Governor Carcieri, who was up in Providence this morning, placing ribbons near the Biltmore Hotel to recall the flooding of downtown Providence.

Here in Island Park, insurance agent Joe Rosa from Carey, Richmond & Viking joined Lowrimore in urging homeowners to prepare. "As we've seen in the latest hurricanes in Texas, the storm surge can reach far inland," said Rosa. Even non-hurricane events like days of heavy rain, such as Massachusetts communities experienced last year, can cause similar issues. "That's a flood, and people can be affected," he said.

And while insuring for a worst-case scenario is necessary for peace of mind, Lowrimore stressed that the most important lesson was heeding calls to evacuate, no matter how the storm might appear on TV. "Even just an 8-foot storm surge at high tide, with waves of 5 feet on top, equals 17 feet of water," he said, pointing out the ribbon across from Flo's, which was clearly well above the roofline. "Now imagine you're in your house, and a 120-mph wind is roaring outside like a jet engine, blowing stuff around. If we could bring that image home to people maybe that would help when we say to evacuate."

Full disclosure: We live on Gormley Ave, just down from Flo's, and my mom lived through the Hurricane of 38 and the cleanup here in Island Park. She said our house was shoved off its foundation (that was years before they put the basement in) and had to be moved back. I have no idea if that was just a family story, but yeah, I'm particularly sensitive on this issue.

Resources:
Freely usable cc-licensed images up on the Flickr stream.
RI Emergency Management Agency
Get Hurricane Ready Rhode Island
RI Hurricane Resource Guide (pdf)
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program