THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508250310
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Britthaven residents James Austin, Bernie Etheridge and Nora Gaskill provided color commentary for CBS News during Hurricane Felix's recent flirtation with our coast.
The trio of lifelong Outer Bankers appeared on Dan Rather's ``Evening News,'' ``Eye To Eye'' and ``CBS, This Morning'' with Paula Zahn and Harry Smith.
The reports, filmed in the convalescent home's lobby, ran about 90 seconds each. Etheridge, 73, talked about the hurricane of 1933. Those were the days before hurricanes had names.
``The storm started on a Sunday morning,'' she said. ``We were going to church, but then the water came up. I was in my house in Skyco, sitting in my mother's lap. I could swing my feet and hit the water.''
Hatteras-born Austin, remembering another storm, told quite a fish story.
``We had about 18 inches of water in our house. We found about 40 to 50 mullet under our eating table. I opened the door and let them swim out.''
Britthaven Administrator Richard Blackmon said all 140 nursing home residents stayed during the hurricane threat and many appeared on camera.
And last week, the Britthaven residents were still enjoying the work of their three ``correspondents'' on CBS. A tape of the reports is in hot rotation in the recreation room's VCR.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FELIX by CNB