THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060513
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTERAS VILLAGE LENGTH: 83 lines
Most residents of the Outer Banks stayed put Thursday night, riding out the third hurricane to threaten the barrier islands in less than two months.
Ferry operator Bonnie Brickhouse said she waited out Hurricane Emily in waist-deep water when it slashed across Hatteras Island three years ago, and wasn't about to flee from Fran.
``Everyone's getting kind of antsy, sure,'' she said. ``But we're still pretty confident, waiting to see what'll happen.''
Frisco fisherman Spurgeon agreed. But he wasn't taking any chances with his 72-foot charter boat, ``Miss Hatteras.'' He moved the vessel - the largest sports fishing boat on Hatteras Island - from its Oden's Dock berth into a wider space at the state ferry docks Thursday.
``We needed to have her some place where there'd be a lot of play when the seas get rough,'' Stowe said. ``She'll be OK here.''
The ocean was expected to rise up to 10 feet above normal tide levels, with waves cresting as high as 15 feet. By 6 p.m. Thursday, swells already had swept above the sand dunes on the north end of Ocracoke and south end of Hatteras Island - spilling a half-foot of saltwater across the highway. Ferry operators had to suspend service of the boats to Ocracoke Island because the roads at either end of the inlet were impassible.
``It's blowing about 35 mph. So we could keep the ferries running. But what's the point when you can't drive onto the islands at either end?'' ferry operator Barry Austin said shortly before sunset as rain began to fall near his Hatteras Village station.
With Hurricane Fran heading for a landfall to the south, officials decided not to order an evacuation of Hatteras Island, Nags Head or northern Dare County beach towns Thursday.
Ocracoke visitors and residents were ordered off that island at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
By the time ferry service stopped Thursday evening, 678 people had left Ocracoke by that route - including almost all of the visitors and about half of the 800 year-round residents.
Only emergency vehicles and Department of Transportation vehicles were permitted onto the island Thursday. Despite the evacuation, Brickhouse said some would-be vacationers were determined to get to their isolated destination on the ferry she was operating. ``I've been cussed out a few times today by people who still wanted to go to Ocracoke,'' she said.
While South Carolinians worried about a repeat of Hurricane Hugo, which took 35 lives in 1989, Hatteras Islanders were hoping the storm didn't send swells up the Pamlico Sound as Hurricane Emily did. That 1993 storm did more than $12.5 million dollars in damage to the southern Outer Banks, killed three people and left 25 percent of Hatteras Island's permanent population homeless.
But tempered perhaps by Bertha in July and Edouard last week - neither of which left their marks on the Outer Banks - few folk from Rodanthe through Hatteras Village seemed to be battening down their hatches before Fran. The Food Lion grocery store in Avon was boarded up. And some businesses had barred their plate glass windows.
Most residents seemed reluctant to shore up their homes against the projected hurricane-force winds. Fewer than 50 houses on Hatteras Island had been shuttered by mid-afternoon - eight hours before the storm was expected to strike near North Carolina's southern border. Ray Williams of Buxton was an exception.
``I boarded mine up last week for Edouard and left it. With this storm twirling right behind it, no sense in taking all the stuff down,'' Williams said, securing plywood pieces over the windows of his mother's house Thursday. Although she evacuated the island last week for Edouard, the 88-year-old woman refused to go for this storm. So her son wanted to make sure her home was secure.
``This house is 100 years old - and it's withstood some storms,'' Williams said from about halfway up a step ladder propped against the two-story white cottage. ``Emily kind of leaned her a bit. But I don't think ol' Fran will hit us this time.
``If it keeps going northwest, I won't have to worry,'' he said of the hurricane. ``I've rode 'em all out so far. But if this one goes up the sound, we've had it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Ray Williams boards up the windows of his mother's Buxton home on
Thursday. He was an exception - fewer than 50 houses on Hatteras
Island had been protected by mid-afternoon. His mother was refusing
to leave, and he wanted to be sure the house was secure.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FRAN HURRICANES by CNB