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(Contuiued from p. 1 ) 



Hurricane Donna was 17 years ago, long enough 

 for many people on the. coast to forget how dang- 

 erous a powerful storm can be. But the planners 

 in the Division of Civil Preparedness (Department 

 of Crime Control and Safety) in Raleigh haven't 

 forgotten. As this year's hurricane season got 

 underway in June, they were busy putting the 

 finishing touches on detailed plans for emergency 

 hurricane evacuation of all North Carolina's coast- 

 al counties. The plans are being drawn up by local 

 governments based on a prototype developed by the 

 division. Called Carolina County, it is being used 

 by coastal counties from Maine to Texas. 



Basically, the model plan calls for moving people 

 off the beach strands to higher elevations and into 

 the best available shelters. The division bases its 

 calculations on a maximum storm surge of 18 feet 

 anywhere off the state's coast. That means that 

 residents should be evacuated to an elevation of at 

 least 25 feet. Public shelters must be sturdy and 

 have some means of food preparation, sanitary fac- 

 ilities, food stocks and stand-by power. Though 

 local governments are responsible for them, they 

 are often operated by the American Red Cross. 



The beach areas of the coast pose some knotty 

 problems for the evacuation planners. On the 

 fragile strip of islands that make up the Outer 

 Banks, the main problem is limited access. One 

 two-lane road runs from Duck to Hatteras. Two 

 bridges connect Bodie and Hatteras Islands to 

 Roanoke Island and the mainland in Dare County. 

 At some spots, the road washes out easily. The 

 only other access to the mainland is by ferry. Sum- 

 mer-time tourist crowds compound the difficulties. 



"On the Outer Banks, you've got a lot of people 

 and limited access roads. If they get caught out 

 there, there's going to be trouble," said Bill Harris, 

 a civil preparedness planner. 



The National Park Service has also stated that 

 severe storms might easily open up inlets at three 

 locations on the Outer Banks — on Ocracoke Island, 

 just north of Buxton and just north of Rodanthe. 



The Bogue Banks and Brunswick County areas 

 pose the additional problems of being heavily pop- 

 ulated during the summer season. A two-lane 

 bridge at each end of Bogue Banks connects it to 

 the mainland of Carteret County. 



"On a Saturday night in season, if one exit 

 should be cut off, it would take in excess of ten 

 hours to evacuate all vehicles from the island," 

 said Dan Spurling, operations officer with civil 

 preparedness. 



Spurling pointed out that during the warning 

 for Hurricane Belle last year, many people evac- 

 uated. Both exits were free and still the traffic was 

 bumper to bumper, he said. 



In Brunswick County access roads connect the 

 beach areas to the mainland and there is high 



ground three to four miles off the beach. The pr 

 lem, noted Harris, is to get people away from 

 beach strand before the tide rises. Many of 

 access roads have float and draw bridges tl 

 can easily wash over when the tide rises. Offici 

 estimate it would take about four hours to cl< 

 the beach strand in Brunswick County. 



If there is enough time, civil preparedness p 

 sonnel prefer that residents and tourists evacui 

 in their own vehicles. The next option is the use 

 high clearance vehicles, such as trucks, to n* 

 people out. 



One of the problems evacuating crews face 

 that residents and vacationers are often relucti 

 to leave beach areas. "Their experience sa 

 'We've lived through everything so far. We'll 1 

 through the rest.' But the potential for a storm 

 completely wipe off that bank (Outer Banks) 

 there," said Spurling. 



Spurling believes that there are generally th: 

 groups of people who want to be in a coastal 

 during a hurricane: residents reluctant to lei 

 their homes, surfers and thrill seekers. The surl 

 up during a storm and some adventurous surfi 

 always want to take to the ocean, he noted. 



The thrill seekers, said Harris, are people w 

 don't understand the power of a hurricane. Wh 

 Hurricane Camille hit Louisiana in August 

 1969, 22 people from one household died. Th 

 refused to evacuate and stayed at the coast foi 

 "hurricane party." The sole survivor was a ch 

 who floated out on a mattress, Harris said. 



A hurricane is a tropical storm with winds th 

 reach a minimum of 74 miles per hour. In ston 



Extensive damage to Wilmington hotel after Hurim 



