THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010416
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Compared with the $11 million in damage done in 1993 by the roaring winds of Hurricane Emily, Hurricane Gordon was only a whisper.
The Nov. 18 hurricane that brushed the Outer Banks caused an estimated $314,000 in property damage.
``The amount of property damage was minimal,'' said Dare County spokesman Charles Hartig. ``While we regret the loss of property, we were very fortunate that Gordon did not inflict more damage.''
Most of the destruction occurred in Kitty Hawk and Nags Head and around the Hatteras Island village of Rodanthe.
In Kitty Hawk, 52 houses and two businesses were damaged. Four of the homes toppled into the surf, and another was declared a total loss.
The majority of homes and businesses suffered structural and septic damage if they were on the oceanfront, and flooding if they were located west of N.C. 12.
In Nags Head, two single-family homes are now uninhabitable because their foundations were undermined. One cottage court also sustained septic-system damage.
On Hatteras, water damaged two buildings at Hatteras Island Resort. Windows were also broken. One oceanfront residence was damaged.
Hartig said the cost of Hurricane Gordon could have been much worse.
``The way this storm was coming up the coast, if it had come inland, we would have had flooding from the ocean and from the sounds. It could have been bad,'' he said.
Gov. Jim Hunt declared a state of emergency on Nov. 18. The North Carolina Highway Patrol, as well as crews from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT), controlled traffic and repaired Highway 12. Highway work is still in progress on Ocracoke Island.
``The Department of Transportation crews did a great job,'' said Hartig. ``We had great crowds here Thanksgiving weekend, thanks to the job they did in getting the road opened.''
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE GORDON NORTH CAROLINA OUTER BANKS
by CNB