THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995                TAG: 9508200040
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   41 lines

IT'S VERY NEARLY SAFE TO FEEL SAFE FROM FELIX

Hurricane Felix continued to hover about 500 miles east of the Virginia-North Carolina border Saturday, stirring up rough surf that again forced beaches to be closed on an otherwise beautiful day.

But forecasters said it appears the storm finally is going to get booted - to the northeast and into oblivion - possibly starting today.

Of course, Felix needs to make a rather dramatic turn to do that, given that it spent most of Saturday edging almost due south, having completed roughly three-quarters of a loop. If the forecast holds, however, it will never close the circle.

In the meantime, residents of Bermuda, already once visited by Felix, remained under a tropical storm watch Saturday night with the hurricane hovering a few hundred miles north of the island. Winds in Bermuda gusted to 40 mph to 50 mph much of the day.

At 5 p.m., the center of Felix was about 250 miles northwest of Bermuda. It was nearly stationary, but expected to move toward the northeast today and out very rapidly on Monday.

Maximum sustained winds were near 80 mph and little change in strength was anticipated.

High tides continued to cause problems, stirring up strong rip currents. Virginia Beach, which had reopened its beaches late Friday, was forced to close the surf to all but surfboarders once again Saturday morning.

And the Hampton Cup Regatta was stalled because the rough waters were unsafe for speed boat racing.

One bit of good news: With Felix at least appearing ready to end its unwelcome visit, the Navy continued bringing its ships home Saturday and more are slated to return today.

KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FELIX AFTERMATH by CNB