Dozens of reporters have now told the story of the marshy island called Tangier. It’s 1.5 square miles in the middle of Chesapeake Bay – just five feet above sea level. English settlers arrived in 1778 to farm and later to fish, but 150 years ago Tangier began shrinking.
"The island is just disappearing very, very quickly."
Over the last 150 years two-thirds of the island has disappeared.
Director David Usui was intrigued as were thousands of tourists who have boarded boats on the Eastern Shore to see a place that could soon be swallowed by sea level rise.
They were, he says, warmly welcomed.
The friendly reception could be due to the island’s desperate search for a way to stop what they call erosion and save their homes.
"Their mayor had asked everyone to open up their homes, their hearts in a way to all this press attention, because he knew that in order for them to receive the support they needed that they needed to share their story]," Usui explains.
But it might also reflect residents’ devotion to fundamental Christianity. Usui and his crews spent a week every month on the island for two years and hundreds of hours in church services.
"I’m still trying to make sense of it, but I didn’t grow up going to church," Usui says. "I’m a fourth generation Japanese American, and I think that all the time that I spent in the church there has changed me in a really fundamental way."
He doesn’t know what the future holds – whether the remaining population of about 430 people might leave all at once, as their streets and homes flood, but the departure might be gradual— tied to the loss of land and services.
"Tangier Island Combined School was built for 250 kids, and I think right now they have 36 enrolled," Usui says. "I do think that it’s possible the state would cut funding for their school, and in that case I imagine that all of those families will be instantly displaced."
The film, called Been Here, Stay Here, will be shown in Charlottesville Saturday afternoon and will eventually be available on streaming services nationwide.
