Why the storm didn't hit harder.(Y) From: The Virginian Pilot | Date: September 20, 2005 | COPYRIGHT 2005 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Byline: CATHERINE KOZAK

BY CATHERINE KOZAK

THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

Thanks to a last-minute 50-mile jog to the east, Dare County beaches escaped the severe erosion that officials had feared from Hurricane Ophelia.

Instead, the most notable effect from the storm on the northern Outer Banks was that it carried in a remarkable amount of sargassum weed, a floating plant that grows only in the Sargasso Sea.

There was so much of it that...