THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503120278
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Dare County officials, trying to do something about the weather, are asking Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. to help them take over a bunkerlike Hatteras Island building that should ride out more storms than the famous lighthouse at the Cape.
The structure is the current headquarters for the National Weather Service station at Buxton, which is downsizing. Dare County wants to move in with an emergency hurricane communications center if and when the U.S. forecasters move out.
``We feel strongly that we need to keep some kind of a Weather Service presence on Hatteras Island,'' R.V. ``Bobby'' Owens, chairman of the Dare County board of commissioners, said Friday.
``If the county assumes responsibility for upkeep and operation of the building at Buxton and runs emergency communications equipment for the Outer Banks, it should be a win-win situation for everybody.''
Owens, a Nags Head political leader and restaurateur, is also eastern representative for Hunt. Other Dare commissioners expect Owens to enlist the governor's aid in getting the Buxton building for county use.
Stephen Harned, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service North Carolina forecasting center in Raleigh, said a proposal to let Dare County operate and maintain the Buxton facility will be presented to U.S. officials later this month.
The proposal will include information from Dare County Manager Terry Wheeler that details the role Dare County would be prepared to play in exchange for use of the Buxton building.
Many of the details have been worked out between Thomas Gray Jr., Dare County data processing manager and emergency management official, and Wallace H. Demaurice, meteorologist in charge of the U.S. weather station at Buxton. Demaurice has become an institution on Hatteras Island and many residents have expressed hope that the veteran meteorologist will stay at Buxton, either in the service of the federal or local government.
``I hope we can come up with something that will help everybody,'' said Gray. ``I don't ever again want to shut down our 911 emergency communications on Hatteras Island the way we had to do when we were flooded out during Hurricane Emily.''
Gray said he thought Dare County communicators could take over some of the duties of Weather Service technicians who have been transferred elsewhere during the downsizing of the Buxton station.
``We wouldn't mind reading temperatures or whatever else we'd have to do to keep up a human presence at Buxton,'' Gray added. ``There's no reason why local government and the federal government can't cooperate.''
Demaurice last year began transferring personnel from Buxton to other Weather Service centers around the country. Eventually, said weather service officials, only automated equipment will remain.
``You'll get Morehead City forecasters when you call in for an Outer Banks weather report,'' said Demaurice last week.
Earlier this month, the World War II vintage weather radar at Buxton failed as a result of what are likely to be the fatal ailments of electronic old-age.
For 40 years, the obsolete radar has faithfully tracked hurricanes and other severe storms that have slashed at the Outer Banks. But more-modern radar equipment at Wakefield, Va., and at Newport, west of Morehead City, is now responsible for protecting the coast. It is doubtful that the old Buxton radar will ever be repaired, U.S. forecasters said. It could be fixed, but that would not be cost-effective.
When the new WSR-88-D radars went on line at Wakefield and at Newport, the powerful Doppler storm-seekers set in motion the decommissioning of the Buxton weather station.
The Buxton weather building is a solid concrete structure on relatively high ground. An existing steel radar tower could carry additional communications antennae, officials said.
``We would all feel better if we work this out,'' said Dare County Sheriff Bert Austin, a Hatteras Island resident.
``And don't forget: That Buxton building can handle just about any of our traditional weather problems. There's an emergency generator, too,'' the sheriff said. by CNB