DEAR READER: Irene's impact is blowing our way

A Saturday afternoon update: My friends and former neighbors Warren and Dana Walker stayed in Kill Devil Hills, as predicted. Around noon they went out to check out the ocean; when they came back, a tree was down where their truck had been. Warren also sent pictures of Kitty Hawk Bay on the Albemarle Sound from his back porch. During the day, southern winds pushed the water 50 yards from the end of the dock. At 4:30, Dana wrote: "Wind just shifted — already filled up the sound — hope it stops there!" Water was over the dock and filling the back yard. By 5:30, water was under the house. The Walker home, like many in the Outer Banks, is on stilts.