THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406030220
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
DATELINE: 940605 LENGTH: Medium
``I couldn't get out because I don't know which way is north and south,'' she said. ``It doesn't help me to read about going north on some highway. I want to know what street to get on and what town to go toward.''
{REST} Winnie knows the sun comes up behind her house so that's east and the sun sets in front so that must be west.
``But how can I know which way is which when the sun's not shining?'' she said. ``And the sun sure isn't going to be shining when a storm is coming.''
As we talked, I realized Winnie is as serious about hurricanes as everybody should be.
``My mother always said get in the middle of the house when a storm comes,'' she said. ``I do that.''
In fact, she said her friend Jean teases her about sitting out any kind of storm in the hallway.
``But I feel safer there,'' Winnie said.
As the stormy season approaches, Winnie fills her empty wine jugs with fresh water, buys batteries for flashlights and radios and generally gets ready for the worst a storm can bring.
``But I read that story this morning about going north and south and all that, and there's no way I would get out of here if we had to leave,'' she said.
As she reminded me, she's lived in Portsmouth all her life and gets around pretty well.
But she simply does not think in terms of north and south, east and west.
``I just can't figure it out,'' she said. ``And I'm not the only person who doesn't think in those terms.''
I think she's right.
The way I get around without getting totally lost is by carrying in my head an image of a map. I still have many uncertain moments.
When I used to try to cover Chesapeake, I kept an oversized map of the city on the wall by my desk. Over time, I looked at it so much during telephone conversations that I had it in my head.
When I got lost, I would think of how the map looked and then decide if I were going right or wrong on a particular road. Getting there had little to do with direction.
Really, finding your way around here is easier if you don't read east and west, north and south markers.
Let's start with Interstate 64, the one we've written about so much. South of Portsmouth, you're going west on the highway marked I-64 East and you're going east when it's marked west.
In Portsmouth, when you're going north on U.S. 17 on High Street, you're traveling in a westwardly direction. To get on the Western Freeway from town, you swing almost due north.
The same problems exist even in the directions put out by the committee trying to plan for evacuation in a severe hurricane.
For instance, residents north of Interstate 264 are instructed to use Route 17 North to Route 258/32 South.
No wonder Winnie is confused.
``I'm just an average person,'' she told me several times. ``I don't think I'm the only person who can't get this, who needs some help.''
She might be right on this issue. Maybe the evacuation instructions need to put street names and destinations along the way to enable public understanding.
Before the instructions are printed up into expensive brochures, somebody needs to take a look at these instructions.
As an example, the reference to Route 17 North should have a parenthetical explanation: (High Street to Churchland).
That could make a big difference to all the Winnies around here.
by CNB