THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508170249
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS AND LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
THERE'S NO stopping the weather.
You can complain, moan, gripe, tremble, cower, curse and throw a brick at the smiley image of the weatherman portending doom.
You can board up, batten down, lock, load and leave.
But you can't stave off the forces of nature when they curl like a wicked cat's tail and start spinning in your direction.
All you can do is watch and wait.
When a hurricane is headed to town, weather watching becomes the unofficial Outer Banks pastime.
Even Hurricane Felix becomes a spectator sport.
As news spread of the coming 'cane last week, residents across the Outer Banks leaned a few inches closer when the forecast came over television or radio.
They soaked up news reports of Felix's fidgeting and began preparing for every eventuality - a dud, a no-show, a shower, a major storm.
When it became clear that the hurricane would stretch its curious claws over the Albemarle, weather watchers were in full gear.
Their reactions, though, were vastly different.
Many Outer Banks visitors facing the storm decided they'd probably stayed long enough and were quick to heed officials' directions to get out of town. Motorists reported bumper-to-bumper traffic heading west from Manteo and from Kitty Hawk on Wednesday.
Many of the locals who had watched the weather come and go for ages decided to stay and watch another one.
C.E. Midgett of Manteo was among them.
Midgett was building a new house in Rodanthe on Tuesday as tourists streamed off Hatteras Island, and he was planning a big ``hurricane party'' for Tuesday night.
Born and raised on the Outer Banks, he saw no reason to leave.
``I'm hoping that whole bridge will go out and we'll be down here alone for a while,'' Midgett said. ``It's a whole lot more secure for all of us when that happens - and everyone else leaves.''
Some locals just weren't sure how to react to the storm, which began pawing at the coast early Wednesday but hesitated to strike.
``We were gonna leave, but we're not sure we're gonna finish everything off on time,'' Susan Wilkinson of Home Port Gifts in Avon said Tuesday afternoon. She and her husband, Mickey, were working to secure their store, home and boats.
Michael Gardner, manager of Outer Beaches Realty in Waves, said his dog, Czar, can tell when big blows are coming ever since he stayed through Hurricane Emily three years ago.
A 145-pound Great Dane, Czar was never scared of wind before. But now, every time the beast hears nature's howl, he scuttles under a chair or desk and tries to cram his big body beneath something solid.
``We're taking Czar to Raleigh,'' Gardner said Tuesday as he and his guests prepared for evacuation. ``We won't make him stay through another storm.
``This old dog can tell when something's coming. He knows, now. And he doesn't like it.''
Most locals seemed to hold the three-digit rule for wind speed tolerance: They'd stay until sustained gusts topped 100 mph.
Some measured that by whether they could still stand outside. Others said they'd wait until the water crept over their first floors.
As they waited and watched, residents held parties; messed about in the fringes of the frothing surf; and requested appropriate songs like ``Riders on the Storm,'' ``The End of the World as We Know It'' and ``Exodus'' on the radio.
``I oughta be out in the surf. My son and his friends've been out there all day. But I guess you gotta take care of business first,'' said Keith Andre, who was nailing plywood over his motel's front windows in Buxton on Tuesday.
``Hopefully, the waves will still be here when this is all over,'' Andre said. ``Hopefully, we'll all still be here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Beachgoers watch waves churned up by Hurricane Felix roll onto the
beach. Even on vacation, the weather's a hot topic.
by CNB