Residents Wait Before Reacting to Hurricane Earl

Despite warnings, many Portsmouth residents are giving Hurricane Earl the cold shoulder.

"What is there to worry about?" asked Mike Viera, a Portsmouth resident sprawled out on the sand of Teddy's Beach. "There are too many variables. The top scientists don't even know where it is going, so we won't know anything until tomorrow afternoon. Even then, you never really know."

Viera said he will be spending Friday night at the beach watching the storm roll in – from the protection and comforts of his car, of course.

"I love natural disasters," he said. "I would love to see it come, but who knows."

A few hundred yards away at Stone Bridge Marina, Mike Strachan is gearing up to pull his boat.

Strachan has kept his boat at Stone Bridge Marina for four years and is not rattled by the threats of Hurricane Earl. Yet three days prior to Earl's arrival, Strachan and his family secure the boat to their trailer and tow it home.

"We are not going to use it anymore," said Strachan. "I mean, the hurricane is part of it, but it is a good time to take it out."

Ray Borden, a worker at the marina for more than 20 years, has noticed the relaxed nature of many boat owners who are waiting to see where the storm is going to end up.

"Only a few people have pulled out," he said. "I think tomorrow will be a busy day. There are a lot of boats left, so I think a good percent of slip owners may pull out tomorrow."

According to Borden, if the storm shifts a little to the west of the projected path, the marina could be in serious trouble.

"Our marina is not very protected," he said.

Still, the marina does not have a plan of attack for a hurricane situation other than to recommend that, if people have a trailer, pull their boats out to avoid an issue.

Stone Bridge Marina is also allowing those who pull their boats to store them in the large parking lot behind the marina while the storm blows over.

A little further down Point Road at Pirate Cove Marina, however, boat owners are calling non-stop asking for advice on where to ride out the storm.

"The bulk of our calls are from people with moorings in the bay who are looking for somewhere to hide," said marina owner Brandon Kidd, who admits that leaving boats in may be safer for some boat owners.

In a previous storm, the rain caused the water level to rise several feet, allowing the boats mounted in the low-lying parking lot to float away.

In preparation for Earl's arrival, Kidd has been constantly monitoring multiple Web sites.

"Right now, it is anyone's guess whether we will get minimal or maximal damage," he said. "But I don't believe it will be catastrophic."

Flo's Clam Shack, situated right across the street from the beach, has seen many hurricanes come and go and have learned over the years how to prepare for the inevitable summer storms.

"One year, we got caught in one though," said Dana Leavitt, a cook at the clam shack. "Our fryolators were floating down the bay. So, since then, we are a little more prepared."

To an unknowing tourist, the red plywood inserts below the take-out window, marked with gold painted words that read "Flood Gates," may seem like nostalgic décor mixed with beach-front humor. But those pieces of plywood are what had kept Flo's intact since the 1930s.

Flo's was built on stilts to prevent flooding, but when the pieces of plywood are removed, it allows water to flush through it rather than knock the structure down.

"We always wait until the last minute. If it starts getting bad, we will bring the trucks down and load up the equipment," Leavitt said casually. "This is New England. It's nothing we have not been through before."