THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 21, 1996 TAG: 9610210038
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 67 lines
An oddity that caught people's eyes more than a week ago is now a mess that could catch their feet.
A mobile home that nearly sank off Ocean View Beach on Oct. 10 while being moved by barge was reduced to debris by a pounding storm Friday night. That left the beach strewn with wreckage, much of it laced with long, rusting nails pointing skyward.
``My neighbor told her children they can't play on the beach for now,'' Sharon Long said as she walked her dog along the beach Sunday just off the 1000 block of E. Ocean View Ave.
``I don't blame her,'' Long said as she gingerly kicked at a 6-foot length of wood among the trailer's debris. It flipped over, revealing a half-dozen large nails. ``I probably shouldn't have the dog down here.''
The Coast Guard said the barge carrying the home - both owned by Chris Tomlinson of Norfolk - ran aground on Oct. 10. The next day, it was towed closer to shore to prevent it from blocking shipping lanes.
And there it sat, frustrated area residents said. Several called city officials, pleading with them to do something, especially when weather forecasts late last week made clear that a storm was coming.
``They told my husband that they had given the owner a week to get it out of there,'' Long said.
Lee Atkison, an Ocean View resident, said he was told the deadline was noon on Friday.
``It had been breaking up for almost a week,'' Atkison said. But, on Friday morning, ``most of it was still together.''
Still, nothing was done. ``That's the main thing we're upset about,'' he said. ``They should have been able to take responsibility. They knew the storm was coming.''
Overnight Friday and early Saturday, a powerful cold front moved through, producing a line of very strong thunderstorms. Winds and seas rose. Waves slammed the home, ramming it into the shoreline. In short order, wood and metal twisted, tore and broke.
Now, Atkison just hopes the city will move in to clean up the beach - and do something about the debris left in the water.
The beach had been in great condition. ``Tim Lane, a city employee, does an excellent job of maintaining the beaches,'' Atkison said. ``He's gone way out of his way to clean up after storms for us.''
If he's charged with cleaning up this mess, he'll find the largest chunks of debris up against a pile of rocks that protect the Traveler's Inn next to Community Beach.
A large section of the roof was slowly being torn in half there Sunday by the relentless tides. Littered around it were large chunks of waterlogged carpet and a piece of wall with glassless window frames still in place. A shower curtain was twisted in the debris.
Except for the large chunks by the rocks, most of the debris is small. A section of wood with an electrical conduit and wires hanging from it; the aluminum guide that once held a sliding door; pieces of wood with padding; insulation; and one large board with a 4-foot-long fluorescent light fixture attached.
``It would have been so much easier and neater if they had pulled it out Friday afternoon,'' Long said Sunday. ``Now they'll probably never get all of it out of here.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
VICKI CRONIS
The Virginian-Pilot
Residents say the city should clean up the remains, much of which is
laced with nails. by CNB