Storm Surge

Back in September 2025, God showed me a vision of three or four beach houses, resting on rails. In that vision, the houses reminded me of the style popular on the barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. These type of houses are normally constructed on top of timber pilings, which are designed to keep them safely above any storm surge. (A great example of this architectural style is a house that was the movie set for Nights in Rodanthe. (No, I haven't seen the movie.) That particular house nearly fell in the ocean during a hurricane a few years ago, and has since been moved further inland. It can be rented at https://www.surforsound.com/hatteras-vacation-rental/property/1045.) Typically, sand dunes separate the house from the water and provide protection from most storms. Sometimes however, the right hurricane conditions will wash away the dunes, undercut the piles, and the home will be lost into the sea. These beach houses are built close enough to allow easy access to the water, but far enough away to stay out of danger. Allegedly...

In the earlier vision, I noticed that the houses were not bolted to the tops of piles, but instead were perched on horizontal rails. The rails looked like giant-scale train tracks, and were about 5 feet off the ground. I knew immediately that the houses were not actually attached to the rails. They were just balanced there precariously; held in place only by gravity. People were out and about, talking on the multi-level decks, grilling burgers, and playing games. It was the perfect summer day. I could see the ocean, far off in the distance. Everything was calm, but I realized that the right storm surge would lift those houses off the rails like a bunch of surfboards and carry them away. I blogged about it at https://www.petecox.org/post/off-the-rails.

A few nights ago, I saw the scene again, but my vantage point had changed. Rather than watching from a distance of 100 yards or so as in the first vision, this time I was right there-- in between the houses. As I looked down, I saw green water. It was no longer on the far horizon-- It was now right underneath me. As I watched, I saw a big green ocean swell roll in, streaked with foam. It picked those houses right up and carried them off, out of my view. The storm had finally come. I was watching storm surge.

Do you know what storm surge is? We have a saying here in the hurricane zone. "Hide from wind, run from water." When a hurricane comes ashore, the strong offshore winds pile up the water up ahead of the storm. This is what kills most people in hurricanes-- storm surge. The below picture shows my son next to the storm surge gage on Tybee Island, Georgia.

That gage behind him shows the temporary ocean level potential during a storm surge. The the base ocean level could rise up to 17 feet, depending on the winds. And then you add 6 to 10' wave height to that. That's why you run from water. If storm surge is expected, you evacuate. No buts. In the vision, I was watching storm surge in action. The ocean level had already risen, and the next big wave carried the houses away.

God previously showed me rising water on other occasions. I wrote about one of those occasions in May 2025 in https://www.petecox.org/post/battle-buddies. In that vision, water was rising around the frame of a dock, and was already almost two feet higher than it should be, even during king tide.

But what does it all mean?

I think the beach houses represent "The Good Life." They were vacation homes-- second homes that were rented out by the week to vacationers. Their existence was proof of prosperity. The people I saw had enough surplus income to own a beach house, or at least to rent one for the week. Life was good.

A good scriptural parallel can be found in Matthew 24: 37-39 (NIV). Jesus is speaking:

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away...

Put differently, life was normal. But they were hit with unexpected catastrophe. In the September vision, the ocean was distant. But in this one, the water was already here. I think the change in viewpoint suggests that the time is now. The water is already rising. In practical terms, the image of the storm surge carrying away the houses suggests that our American economy-- the good life of abundance-- is about to go off the rails...

Set your house in order and brace for impact.