THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994 TAG: 9406300610
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SARAH HUNTLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940630 LENGTH: Medium
These are the sounds of hope and relief in dry Hampton Roads.
{REST} The spurt of showers and thunderstorms that passed over Wednesday morning left little more than a half-inch of rain on withering crops and browning lawns, but for local farmers and gardeners the brief rain washed away the blues.
When Cindy Barnes, co-owner of Baybreeze Farms in Virginia Beach, looked out her window Wednesday morning, she imagined fields of eye-high cornstalks and bushels of golden husks.
``My first thought went to the corn,'' she said. ``I just thought about it growing. We're grateful for this rain.''
Wednesday's showers dropped .67 of an inch at Norfolk International Airport, more rain than Hampton Roads has seen all month. The drought-like conditions have meant stunted corn and bean crops for vegetable growers, canceled orders for lawn care and headaches for gardeners.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a 30 percent chance of thundershowers today, with highs in the 90s. The 90-degree trend is likely to continue through the holiday weekend, meteorologists said. Hope for another good rain is slim.
``I've been praying for rain for three days,'' said Robert Phelps, manager of John Deere Lawn & Garden Equipment in Portsmouth.
``The dryness hurts business. People don't think about buying new mowers or getting repairs when their grass isn't growing,'' he said.
Not everyone was rejoicing, though.
The storm sent a 43-year-old woman to Virginia Beach General Hospital early Wednesday after lightning struck near her and sent shocks up through the ground. A rescue crew took the woman, who was complaining of tingling in her feet, to the hospital, where she was treated and released.
Lightning also wreaked havoc on the brand-new WVAB radio tower on North Newtown Road in Virginia Beach. The AM 1550 talk-radio station was hit by a bolt of lightning at about 7:15 a.m. and knocked off the air for nearly four hours.
At Tidewater Community College's Virginia Beach campus, the downpour disrupted early morning classes inside a building undergoing a roof replacement.
Rain water poured through a temporary patch that construction workers had placed over a section of the Blackwater building, collapsing ceiling tiles, pooling on floors and damaging a few computers and books.
A few soggy - and irritated - students had to be moved to dry rooms to hold class, including one group taking a 7:15 a.m. anatomy test.
``You could see water dripping everywhere,'' said student Teresa Ferguson. ``Can you picture taking a major test and something dripping on your head? Our teacher got a bucket for one of the leaks.''
TCC administrators were not amused.
``We cussed first and then we had to just carry on,'' said TCC Provost Michael F. LaBouve, who added that the contractor will be billed for damages. ``They got over there pretty quick mopping up.''
In Chesapeake, city officials said the rainfall wasn't heavy enough to curb plans to impose water restrictions because of unusually high chloride and salt levels in the drinking water from the Northwest River.
And in Virginia Beach, Claude Kirkland took the long view. He hoped for a slow, soaking rain.
Wednesday's rain, he pointed out, came so hard and fast that it failed to penetrate the heat-hardened soil. It drained off onto roads and sat like small ponds on thirsty lawns.
Kirkland, owner of Kirkland Lawn Service Inc., said, ``It would be almost like taking a five-gallon bucket of water and dumping it onto concrete.''
{KEYWORDS} WATER SHORTAGE DROUGHT
by CNB