THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090396
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 111 lines
When high winds and heavy rains battered the Outer Banks Tuesday, 69-year-old Rose Dugger had a simple question. How fast is the wind blowing?
``Those weather reports we get from television aren't accurate,'' Dugger said. ``They give the wind speed on Hatteras, but not here. The weather here (in Nags Head) is different from how it is on Hatteras.''
But thanks to North Carolina's director of state parks, and the superintendent at Jockey's Ridge State Park, Dugger got her answer: Winds were steady at 25 mph, gusting to 42 mph Tuesday afternoon.
That was much the case throughout Dare County Tuesday. Wind gusts to 45 miles an hour were reported from Pea Island to Duck, with flooding in the usual areas along N.C. Route 12. Dare County Assistant Director of Emergency Management Cheryl Booth said that despite rumors of a tornado Tuesday morning, there were no confirmed sightings.
Jockey's Ridge State Park Superintendent George Barnes walked to the top of the sand dune to record speed with a hand-held wind gauge. The park's weather station is out of commission. But when a $1.2 million visitors' center and concession facility are completed next spring, a new weather station will be in place.
Dugger, however, was thrilled to get help from state and local officials.
``I think she called two or three different places just trying to find out how fast the wind was blowing,'' said Tom Wells, director of the state park system. ``We were just happy to help out. We have a hand-held wind gauge that's pretty accurate.''
Barnes said that because of the placement of the weather station at Jockey's Ridge, the readings are not that accurate. However, the new weather station will give accurate readings of beach winds north of Oregon Inlet. The Friends of Jockey's Ridge, a support group for the park, are trying to raise funds for the museum exhibits.
``We'll do anything we can to help people,'' Barnes said. ``If someone wants to know how fast the wind speed is, we'll take the anemometer to the top of the ridge and find out.''
Wind speed is also a concern for Blue Sky, a program aimed at strengthening Outer Banks homes against fire, flood, wind and other natural phenomena.
``We have a plan to outfit 250 homes along the Outer Banks with anemometers at a minimal cost,'' Cay Cross, director of Blue Sky, said. ``We also hope to establish a monitoring system at the municipal buildings and at county buildings. With the information that we're able to extrapolate from those readings, we'll be able to do accurate spot-checking.''
Cross said uncertainty about wind speeds during hurricanes Fran and Andrew make the monitoring system necessary.
Some local businesses have weather stations in place. At Quagmire's, a popular Kill Devil Hills eatery, the weather station registered gusts of up to 45 mph, Judy Fisher, an employee at the restaurant, said.
In Manteo, the main street was blocked off due to minor flooding. Water stood ankle deep in the downtown shopping district. Local merchants spent the afternoon moving wares above floor level.
Despite minor flooding on the roads, they remained passable. In preparation for high tide Tuesday afternoon, boat captains at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center prepared to move their boats to Wanchese.
Along northeast North Carolina, highways the heavy rain sent floodwaters surging across the pavement at depths of sometimes one foot or more, causing cars to stall and traffic to slow to a creep.
In Elizabeth City, James Edwards, director of the central communications system, estimated that ``at least four inches of rain'' fell in the area. Greater amounts were reported in some communities farther west. The center of the weather system seemed to follow I-95 north after it entered North Carolina Tuesday morning.
At the Elizabeth City Highway Patrol station, Line Sgt. Ray Early said there was some road flooding and a few stalled cars. Traffic delays cleared as quickly as the standing water drained away.
One victim of the storm, however, was 3rd District Democratic congressional nominee George Parrott. Two campaign functions at Nags Head for the 40-year-old Atlantic Beach businessman were canceled due to inclement weather.
On Hatteras Island, Wallace H. Demaurice, former chief of the National Weather Service station at Cape Hatteras, was - as usual - in the center of the severe weather that swept north across the Outer Banks early Tuesday.
Demaurice, now ``semi-retired,'' still acts as an official Weather Service observer at Buxton, where his old station was located until a new regional bureau was established two years ago at Newport, near Morehead City.
``As soon as I heard radio reports of a tornado at Frisco this morning, I hurried down there,'' said Demaurice. ``There were limbs and some trees down and damage to structures, particular at Ward Barnett's trailer park.
``But I couldn't see any signs of tornadic rotation by the wind.''
Demaurice radioed his reports for incorporation into weather alerts that were being sent out by the Newport forecasters. Earlier, Newport broadcast tornado watches for the lower Outer Banks and coastal areas.
Demaurice said the maximum wind velocity recorded on the Outer Banks was near Oregon Inlet, where a 62-knot gust was reported.
``Diamond Shoals Light Station had 50-knot winds,'' he said.
``It was clear that the weather system was rapidly deepening as it moved northeast up the coast,'' said Demaurice. ``The falling barometer reached a low of 29.29 inches at Buxton.''
``But the storm had acquired extra-tropical characteristics by the time it reached our area,'' said Demaurice.
But while the wind and water were minor in comparison to some of the tropical force conditions that hit the Outer Banks earlier this summer, they still worried Dugger. The storm door at her home was blown off its hinges.
``The wind was just howling,'' she said. ``When it gets up, it's like a wind tunnel here.'' MEMO: Staff writer Mason Peters contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Rob Constantineau, 24, a mate aboard the Tuna Fever, balances on the
bow of the 56-foot sport-fishing boat to nail a wooden fender to a
piling at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center on Tuesday. Heavy rain and
winds sent water to the level of the docks. Wind gusts to 45 miles
an hour were reported from Pea Island to Duck. by CNB