THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607130180
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 135 lines
Today, some people will clean up while others count their blessings.
Hurricane Bertha - rejuvenated and destructive in the morning - broke apart Friday evening as it moved across land with winds dropping to 75 mph by 11 p.m. It was expected to weaken further, below hurricane force, as it sweeps through Hampton Roads early this morning.
``It's certainly better than if the storm came in from the sea,'' said Mark Marchbank, Virginia Beach's emergency services chief. ``Hopefully, we'll just have to deal with some hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy rains.'' Marchbank, like his counterparts throughout the mid-Atlantic region, was hunkered down in a command center keeping tabs on Bertha's movements.
A tornado damaged several homes in Smithfield Friday night, officials confirmed.
The full impact of Bertha's visit likely will not be known until later today as the storm heads away, and disaster officials and residents can begin returning to evacuated coastal areas to see what happened.
``We don't know what the damages are yet, but they're considerable,'' said Tom Ditt of North Carolina's Emergency Management Division based in Raleigh.
Through the night, reports of damage trickled in, ranging from bridges washed out to homes buffeted by high winds. At the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, winds gusted to 110 mph at 10:40 p.m. The bridge had been closed.
After Bertha slammed ashore Friday afternoon, whipping the southern North Carolina coastline with winds of 105 mph, it cut a wide swath across Eastern North Carolina on its trek toward Virginia.
There were reports late Friday of tornadoes in western Hampton Roads and near Williamsburg.
People fled, trees fell, streets flooded, beaches eroded, fishing piers disintegrated, roofs and siding were ripped from homes, and lots of lights went out.
One storm-related death was reported Friday in Kitty Hawk when an unidentified woman died after her car was blown into the path of another.
At 11 p.m., the center of Hurricane Bertha was about 100 miles southwest of Norfolk, and was moving north-northeast near 18 mph. That motion was expected to bring the center into the central Chesapeake Bay early this morning and - if it holds course - over New York City late tonight.
Maximum sustained winds had diminished to near 75 mph, but there were higher gusts. Continued weakening was expected as long as the storm stayed over land.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 105 miles, mainly to the east of the center, and tropical storm-force winds in excess of 39 mph extended up to 260 miles.
Bertha was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm this morning, the Hurricane Center said.
A hurricane warning, a tornado watch and a flash-flood watch remained in effect early today for Hampton Roads and Northeastern North Carolina.
The storm - a huge system that covered seven states Friday - should rapidly spin away from the region this morning, possibly threatening the New Jersey, New York and New England coasts.
Weather conditions locally should improve quickly today, the National Weather Service said. The sun may reappear this afternoon.
Bertha marked the first time in more than four decades that Eastern North Carolina has borne the full force of a hurricane. And the course of this storm was similar to that earlier hurricane: Hazel in 1954.
Hazel, one of the most damaging ever in North Carolina, also made landfall at Cape Fear. But it was a far more powerful storm, packing winds of 150 mph when it hit Wilmington. Hazel killed 19 people and caused $136 million in damage.
For Hampton Roads, the last frontal assault by a major storm was in 1933.
Bertha's power began to be felt here at dusk Friday with band after band of torrential rains and gusty winds. Low-lying streets turned to lakes and underpasses vanished in high waters.
Offshore at Diamond Shoals light, sustained winds hit 70 mph with higher gusts.
Virginia Power reported scattered outages, and police handled numerous accidents.
``We've passed the crucial point of high tide,'' said Jim Talbot, deputy coordinator of emergency services for Norfolk. ``And, unless it slows down dramatically, it should be out of here before the next cycle'' of high tides.
Bertha's rapid deflation was not surprising once it became clear that the center of the hurricane was moving well inland.
``Typically, they break up very quickly once the eye gets over land and it loses energy,'' said Matt Crowther, a senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel in Atlanta.
``The people who were hit when it went ashore certainly weren't lucky, but there would have been a lot more flooding if it had gone up the sounds rather than inland,'' Crowther said. ``It's not going to be nearly as bad, because the center went inland.''
For those hit by Bertha, it was bad enough.
Utility spokesmen estimated that at least 75,000 North Carolina electric customers were left in the dark by nightfall, and that number was climbing as Bertha's winds tore at power lines and dropped limbs on them.
In Hampton Roads, by 9:30 p.m., nearly 20,000 Virginia Power customers were without power - mostly in Virginia Beach. That number was expected to climb overnight.
Virginia Power brought in crews from around the state, and a spokesman said technicians would work round the clock to restore service.
Damage reports were spotty, because officials could not get out to survey what was happening.
N.C. Route 12 was washed over and flooded in several areas, and there were reports of significant dune damage along the Outer Banks.
Fishing piers at Carolina Beach and Kure Beach, N.C., were destroyed, and there were scattered reports of homes being damaged along the North Carolina coast.
Extensive erosion was being reported along beaches from South Carolina through Virginia.
Some folks who had planned on Thursday to ride out the storm in Sandbridge in Virginia Beach and along the Outer Banks apparently thought better of it Friday. As the storm approached, authorities reported a renewed surge of evacuees.
Still, there were those who seemingly dared Bertha.
At the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, people - some with children in tow - came out to watch the pounding surf. Surfers tried to get a ride off Bertha's storm-tossed waves, and a few people ignored warnings that the beaches were closed to swimmers.
The Coast Guard Marine Safety Office closed the Hampton Roads port at 8 p.m. Friday and said it would remain closed until at least 4 a.m. today.
In Norfolk, flood gates intended to keep the Elizabeth River out of the downtown area were closed about the same time as hurricane warnings went up for Hampton Roads and area mayors declared local emergencies.
Several cities opened shelters. In Virginia Beach, nearly 200 people sought the safety of five schools. But in the other cities, relatively few people were at public shelters.
In Portsmouth, about 20 people sought shelter at Woodrow Wilson High School by 10 p.m. In Norfolk, about 10 people were at Lake Taylor Middle School. ILLUSTRATION: FOR MORE INFORMATION
Box
[See microfilm for information regarding television, radio and
Infoline coverage.]
QUESTIONS ABOUT HURRICANES
VP
Graphic
[For a copy of the graphic, see page A12 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT for
this date.]
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE BERTHA STORM DAMAGE by CNB