Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 28, 1995 TAG: 9511280073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short
``Do the people realize how lucky they were?'' asked hurricane forecaster William Gray of Colorado State University. ``They would still be working to pick up the pieces there had Felix proceeded in.''
``We were extremely lucky,'' said Jim Talbot, Norfolk's deputy coordinator of emergency services.
Felix was the only one of 19 named tropical storms this year to threaten the Virginia coast.
In all, the storms - 11 became hurricanes - left 124 people dead and caused upward of $10 billion in damage. The worst was Opal, which claimed 63 lives and caused more than $3 billion in damage.
The East Coast was mostly spared because of a persistent arc of low pressure just off the coast most of the season. It served as a guide for winds in the upper atmosphere, steering storms to the northeast before they could reach land.
- Associated Press
by CNB