What Will Hurricane Irene Do to Second Beach?

As residents on Saturday left the low lying flood plains of Sachuest Point one day ahead of the Hurricane Irene's arrival, surfers enthusiastically arrived for the same reason.

Big waves.

As the mandatory evacuation of the Second Beach Campground was nearly complete, it was clear many surfers shared the same concerns as many campers who were leaving for emergency shelter.

They were equally worried about the destructive force of waves in excess of 20 feet tearing through Second Beach Sunday, and what they each would return to find at Sachuest Point on Monday

Waves bigger than 20 feet?

Just how big will today's waves be? 

That’s the question on many Middletown minds as Hurricane Irene’s timing and trajectory seems to be lining up with the highest tides brought each month by the new moon, which occurs Sunday.

Tide charts on Rhode Island Harbors website show the high tide on Sunday evening rising to 4.5 feet at 7:57 p.m.

Monday’s high tides at 8:24 a.m. and 8:44 p.m. peaking for the month at 4.6 feet.

Local surf reports on Magicseaweed.com show the biggest swells are expected to arrive by noon today, with forecasts predicting 23.5 feet.

“With the tide and the moon, things can get pretty ugly down here,” Harbor Master Steve Ponte said Thursday, while overseeing the evacuation of boats from the Third Beach moorings. “I’ve seen waves up to 12 feet down there…Anything bigger than that can do some serious damage down there on Memorial Boulevard (off Easton’s Beach).”

Campers Donna Sampson and Sandy Lucas, who have camped at Second Beach for 30 summers, recalled the effects from Hurricane Bob 20 years ago, when that storm surge with 12- to 15-foot waves tore away dunes, washed away small beach buildings, left a boat in the Second Beach Campground rear lot, and required snow plows to clear Sachuest Point Road of all the sand swept in.