“Never seen the water this high in Belfast” - December 23, 2022 storm
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These photos and videos were taken by staff at Nautilus Seafood & Grill on the Belfast waterfront, on December 23, 2022. This was a tremendous storm with sustained hurricane-force winds and astronomical high tides.
I've been a hostess at Nautilus since May 2016 - nearly as long as we have been located here on the waterfront. In this storm, the parking lot was flooded, which we have seen before, but for the first time it came right up to our front entrance door, covering the handicap parking spots.
The tide came within an inch or two of the front patio door. Storm windows were smashed and patio fencing was broken.
At the back of the building, our dumpsters were floating. The Belfast City Landing ice machine was swept up against the waterside fencing.
After the storm, heavy equipment was brought in to clean up the parking lot, resulting in a mountain of seaweed and debris by the breakwater.
One of the owners, watching the waters approach the front door, disbelievingly said it was a “freaky” sight, and that he had never seen the waters this high. Our customers and friends, responding to these photos and videos on Facebook, echoed that they had “never seen the water this high in Belfast.”
While we narrowly avoided flooding, our neighbors at Three Tides & Marshall Wharf Brewing were not so fortunate. Their tasting room and beer garden were flooded.
Many of us love the exhilarating experience of a wild storm, the wind buffeting your body, raindrops stinging your face, seeing the crashing waves and feeling the powerful force of the ocean.
But it is a helpless feeling and seems unreal to watch the flood waters coming in fast, and to hold your breath - hoping they don’t come in.
Here are a couple articles about this powerful storm which none of us will soon forget:
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