THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607110436
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK AND PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: 66 lines
The mandatory evacuation of Hatteras Island by Dare County emergency officials drew fire Wednesday from some business owners, tourists and officials, who claimed the order was premature.
The Dare County Control Group - a coalition charged with decisions in emergencies - ordered an evacuation of Hatteras Island starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The decision came after Hyde County officials ordered the evacuation of Ocracoke Island at 8:30 a.m.
``Business was good today, but will be poor tomorrow,'' said Marilyn Midgett. ``They jumped the gun on this one.''
Midgett, who co-owns Island Convenience in Rodanthe with her husband, Dare County Commissioner Joseph ``Mac'' Midgett, said the county acted too quickly.
``Yeah, if it's up in Georgia or South Carolina, it's time to get out of here,'' she said. ``But they've gotten too computerized.''
Hurricane Bertha was still heading toward southern Florida when the evacuation order was announced.
Dare County spokesman Ray Sturza said the decision to evacuate Hatteras was made at 6:30 a.m., based on information from computer-generated models at the National Hurricane Center. The Miami-based center predicted the storm would travel directly over Dare County and the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds, Sturza said.
The control group was concerned about the potential for flooding on N.C. 12, the only highway from Hatteras Island to the northern Outer Banks and the mainland. Okracoke Island is connected to Hatteras by a ferry route.
``The control group is sensitive to economic concerns,'' Sturza said. ``We don't want to make people leave unnecessarily. But if we get within a 24-hour time period before landfall, then we're going to have to make a decision for people to leave.''
Dare County Board of Commissioner Clarence Skinner chairs the control group. Other members include Dare County Sheriff Bert Austin, Supervisor of National Parks Russ Berry, and the mayors of Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Manteo, Kitty Hawk and Southern Shores.
``Probably the long pole in the tent that drove our decision was timing,'' Skinner said. ``We thought we needed to move people off Hatteras Island while they could still get off. So timing was the biggest factor.''
Douglas Langford, also a member of Dare County Board of Commissioners, said he had received at least a half-dozen phone calls from Hatteras Island residents objecting to the evacuation order. Commission Chairman R.V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said he, too, had received complaints.
Warren Judge, a restaurateur who heads the Dare County Tourist Bureau, predicted the Hatteras evacuation could cost business people there about $1 million a day.
``I know they're upset - they're saying, `Why so soon, why when it was off the coast of Puerto Rico?' '' Langford said. ``Of course, if the storm does track up here, then they'll all be glad they left when they did.''
Several visitors from Michigan, who had just arrived in Rodanthe on Sunday, said they thought people were overreacting to the order.
``I think they issued it too early,'' said Dirk Hawn of Pontiac, Mich. ``I thought it was crazy to pack up and leave when it's all the way down in the Bahamas.''
Hanging from his beach cottage balcony was a brightly painted bedsheet declaring: ``Kiss my butt, Bertha.'' MEMO: Staff writer Jennifer McMenamin contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Map
Hurricane Evacuation Routes from the Outer Banks
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE BERTHA EVACUATION by CNB