Daily Updates & Breaking News
Hurricane Earl inflicts little damage
Islanders have seen worst nor'easters
By Eliot Baker
I&M Staff Writer
Nantucketers braced for Hurricane Earl’s fury, but the most highly anticipated storm since Hurricane Bob hit in 1991 yielded little more than the heavy downpour and stiff winds to which year-round islanders are accustomed from blustery winter weather.
By Saturday morning, town officials confirmed that no injuries, power outages or major storm damage had been reported.
“There was absolutely very little, minimal impact, just some minor tree limbs down here and there like any storm,” said Nantucket Police chief, William Pittman. “The most dramatic thing that happened during the whole thing was the Sheep Pond Road and some of the properties down there washing over and the Miacomet Pond washing over. That’s about it. But there’s no real property damage from the storm that we’re aware of.”
All ferries were running on schedule and the airport was operating at full capacity by 9 AM on the sunny, warm Saturday morning. And while popular wedding weekend saw one wedding reportedly delayed until tomorrow at Great Harbor yacht Club, other wedding venues like The Jetties on Jetties Beach said they were ready to go.
“People were expecting the worst and it never came,” said supervisor of The Jetties restaurant on Jetties Beach, Johnny Boukhenoufa, who left his second-floor apartment atop The Jetties to stay with a friend on Essex Road Friday night. “It’s good that we were prepared, but nothing happened.”
The Jetties will remain open for business for the rest of Labor Day, their last weekend before shutting down food operations for the season.
A handful of islanders soaked in the early Saturday sunshine on Main Street while maintenance men removed boards from shop windows. Ron Cavalier, owner of Cavalier Gallery on Main Street, said his art opening Friday night went off smoothly and the after-party spilled into crowded downtown bars like the Boarding House on Federal Street.
“They were seasoned islanders at the opening and they were like, ‘Whatever, it’s just a storm,” said Cavalier.
Ratner's Madaket Home Survives
But the tropical storm did not go without incident for Gene Ratner, who on Thursday had said he expected to lose his Madaket home off of Sheep Pond Road to the churning sea surrounding it. To his astonishment, Ratner’s home survived although the stairs leading to his deck laid in splinters on the 40-ton sand bags protecting the house’s structure from the advancing ocean.
When informed at 6:30 AM while driving toward his home that his house still stood, Ratner looked thoughtful a moment and then confessed he’d been up all night coming to terms with losing his beloved Nantucket home.
“I’m tickled pink,” said Ratner, 84, from his car window, and then drove down the dirt road to his house that jutted into the ocean like a figurehead above an island of sand bags.
“The house that wouldn’t die,” he said as he crossed the threshold, flipping light switches that yielded no light.
Upstairs, the front deck still stood despite being soaked by waves that continued to spray the glass windows. But he noticed a dramatic sag running down the middle of the upstairs floor that he guessed was due to a bend in the structure.
“At five on Friday, when I left, I figured it was going in,” he said, staring into the ocean. “I’ve never seen waves like that. I watched two bags we just filled up pop - boom! - like 40-ton balloons.”
Ratner said he felt a sense of relief that was also tinged with something not so positive, as well. He said he’s been fighting island environmental groups for 15 years to keep sand-bagging his home, a practice conservationists have said contributes to erosion in the surrounding areas. He was coming to grips with giving up that fight along with his home, and retiring to Tucson, AZ to write memoirs about his struggle to keep his Madaket home.
For Ratner, the fact that his home is still standing is vindication that his sand bagging is an appropriate measure for protecting not only his home, but all island homes threatened by erosion on the Sconset Bluff.
“Perhaps the Town of Nantucket can stand up and take notice that these coastal houses can be saved with this geo-technology,” Ratner said.
Text Alerts on Your Cellphone!
Get text messages on your mobile phone or PDA with breaking news, weather and more from The Inquirer and Mirror.
Goodman's Gam: Join the Conversation
Click here to check out columnist David Goodman's take on island life - and talk back if you like.
To view a selection of images captured by The Inquirer and Mirror over the past week, click here
Survivor
Photo byNicole Harnishfeger
Gene Ratner's Sheep Pond Road home survived Hurricane Earl, though the stairs were lost to the sea and the house was surrounded by water on almost three sides..
Top Story
Cisco Brewery faces shut down over septic violations
The Cisco Brewery and Triple Eight Distillery could be forced to shut down some of their operations in the coming days after being cited for numerous wastewater and septic violations Monday by the Nantucket Health Department.
Along with a cease and desist order, Cisco Brewery was given five days to agree to one of three remediation actions proposed by the Health Department to address the problems, including shutting down its brewing and distilling operations, or halting its special events and daily brew pub business.
More Front Page News
Positive buzz as first day of school nears
There’s a buzz in the halls of the Nantucket Public Schools, and classes haven’t even begun yet. New superintendent W. Michael Cozort kicked off the staff’s school year with a message of optimism at an orientation breakfast Tuesday that spoke in stark contrast to that of his predecessor last year, when Robert Pellicone abruptly announced that he was seeking employment elsewhere after four years as superintendent and one year as assistant superintendent of the Nantucket schools.
Working Nantucket: Liz Holland finds a home in her bakery
At Daily Breads, nestled into the lower level of a building off Orange Street, the aroma of cookies, muffins, breads, croissants, and other fresh-baked goodies permeates the air. Owner Liz Holland began visiting Nantucket as a child, and said she knew early on that she wanted to spend her life here.
Nantucket Golf Club Foundation raises $11M for island kids
It all started in 2002 at a Nantucket Golf Club board meeting. Sitting around a table, board members Fred Green, Ed Hajim, Robert Greenhill and clubhouse manager Tom Bresette began brainstorming ideas for how they and other members of the exclusive private club could give back to the Nantucket community.
The Nantucket County Sheriff’s race comes around only once every six years, and with just weeks to go before the Sept. 14 primaries, a handful of candidates are scrambling to get their message out.
Fishing captain claims tribal right to sea scallops
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded a commercial fishing vessel on Nantucket Wednesday and found it did not have a required permit.
Football hoping to build on success 
Back-to-School study tips
