THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609070188
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 126 lines
Boat docks and waterfront property at the western end of Albemarle Sound took a pounding early Friday when Hurricane Fran's southeast gales pushed a storm surge far up creeks and rivers.
Many residents of the Albemarle area lost power in what North Carolina Power officials said was the most devastating storm in its history. At 9 a.m., more than half its 100,000 customers were without power. All but a few of the 20,000 customers in that area lost service.
The least-troubled area was the Outer Banks, which usually is the target of ocean storms.
At Elizabeth City, the water surge was called a ``wind tide'' by waterfront veterans. In Elizabeth City's harbor one boat sank and many piers will have to be rebuilt.
Albemarle Sound resembles a 42-mile long funnel with the wide end facing the Outer Banks at Colington Island and the narrow western end terminating in the Roanoke, Chowan, Pasquotank and other estuaries.
``At 3 a.m. (Friday) I stood in the rain and watched 150 feet of my dock simply disintegrate as the water rose up under the dock planks,'' said Elizabeth City Mayor H.R. ``Rick'' Gardner.
Gardner, a contractor, lives in a new house he built across the Pasquotank River from Elizabeth City's downtown business section.
Coast Guard officials were completing an investigation into the sinking of a large sailboat a few hundred yards downriver from Gardner's property. The sailboat was moored at a private dock when witnesses said it appeared the water rose high enough to allow the sloop to come down on top of a dock piling, starting a leak.
At the Pelican Marina east of the causeway to Camden County, pieces of smashed docks littered the shoreline.
The marina is operated by Ervin Stahel, a retired Navy officer. As Hurricane Fran approached, Stahel moved most of the boats at his docks to more protected waters. The Pelican docks are about four-feet above the normal water level, and the floor of Stahel's store and repair shops is about a foot higher than that. Behind the marina U.S. Route 158, a busy highway to the Outer Banks, rises another three feet.
Even after the high waters had drained all day Friday, Stahel's marina was still an island completely surrounded by several feet of muddy water.
Across the river from the Pelican, hundreds of feet of docks at the Elizabeth City Shipyard were stripped of dock planking by the rising water.
In Edenton, at the mouth of the Chowan River, and at Plymouth, where the Roanoke River empties into Albemarle Sound, Hurricane Fran's high waters created similar scenes.
Students from Currituck, Camden, Elizabeth City, Perquimans, Chowan and other western localities got the day off from school.
Elizabeth City State University closed Thursday night and dormitory students and mandatory employees still on campus were told to seek shelter at the R.L. Vaughan Center.
As winds began to subside by mid-morning Friday, residents began clearing yards of debris and negotiating roadways made impassible by broken trees, downed power lines and flooding.
This is the third time this summer that roads in and around Elizabeth City have been severely flooded by storms, causing all kinds of delays for motorists.
Teddy Langley of Harborview Condominiums in Elizabeth City was among many anxious waterfront residents who stayed up all night.
Langley said he watched a neighbor's 42-foot sailing yacht break lose from its mooring about 2:30 a.m. Friday and sink less than two hours later.
A couple of uprooted cypress trees also floated by, he said.
``You could feel the force and strength of the water, where it always felt so calm and peaceful before,'' Langley said of the previous night's fury. ``You could definitely feel the adrenaline of the river.''
Power outages were reported throughout the western Albemarle, including Perquimans, Gates and Chowan counties.
Houses along Hertford's waterfront sustained wind and water damage, with piers being knocked out and waves reaching some homes' foundations.
``The water was higher this time that it was with Bertha,'' Town Manager John Christensen said.
But Christensen said that other than a few downed trees and a temporary blackout, Hertford handled the storm pretty well.
``We've just got a lot of debris to pick up,'' he said.
``We had very, very little damage,'' said Chowan County Manager Cliff Copeland. Edenton lost power about 2:15 a.m., but it was restored by about 8 a.m., he said.
``We were extremely lucky, compared with the rest of the state,'' Copeland said. ``I guess just a few miles makes a difference.''
Minimum damage also was reported in Currituck County.
Heavy flooding was reported in Hyde County, blocking Highway 264, and farther south in Oriental, at a nine-slip boat basin, one boat broke loose and swung around, knocking out the entire wooden walkway to the docks.
Another 30-foot boat was tossed about 40 feet inland. Bulkhead rock was strewn across several roads, blocking traffic after being ripped up by high tides and winds.
Limbs and trees are down all around town. But we lost so many during Bertha that there weren't that many left to go. All the big ones, it seems, already went,'' said Sandy Seamans.
Metal roofs were ripped back, and some houses had trees in their living rooms and kitchens.
``I had water over the second step to my house after the Neuse flooded. We've had a lot of water come up here,'' Seamans said. ``There's more water now than I've ever seen.''
One of the least-affected areas was the one that usually bears the brunt of ocean storms.
``We feel like we've dodged a big bullet, won the lottery, that sort of thing,'' said Dare County Emergency Management Director Sandy Sanderson. ``All you have to do is look at the TV and see how this is unfolding for our neighbors to the south and west of us. They're just waking up to the damage that's been done.''
Ferry service between Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands resumed Friday morning.
But the weather forced the postponement of a number of Friday high school football games. Camden County's game at Creswell will be played tonight at 7:30.
Edenton-Holmes entertains Williamston and Perquimans County plays at Northwest Halifax at 7 p.m. At 7:30 Monday night, Manteo travels to Gates County, Bertie County entertains Northeastern, and Currituck County hosts Hertford County. MEMO: Contributing to this report were Anne Saita, Paul South and Lane
DeGregory. ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN photos, The Virginian-Pilot
Motorists on Ocracoke Island make their way past roads covered with
sand and seawater Friday afternoon as life returns to normal on the
Outer Banks following Hurricane Fran's passage.
Anglers on a sand spit are surrounded by the whitecaps of Hatteras
Inlet and Pamlico Sound.
Motorists, who are mostly Outer Banks residents, return to Ocracoke
Island on a Department of Transportation ferry. by CNB