THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 28, 1995 TAG: 9510280319
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
For one of the first times in his 35-year career with the National Weather Service, Wally DeMaurice is unable to help.
``I can't give you a marine forecast, but I can give you a number to call,'' DeMaurice tells a caller.
Those are words DeMaurice and Dare County residents will become familiar with. As of today, he's the only weather service employee in Dare County. And a history of manual weather observations that began in August 1874 will end.
Instead, observations will be done by Doppler radar from new weather service offices in Newport and Wakefield, Va. And DeMaurice, who once supervised 10 people and was responsible for weather warnings in 13 counties, will become basically a liaison to the public, helping to solve any problems that crop up as the weather service becomes a smaller operation.
``I'm charged with trying to become as transparent as possible,'' since he will no longer be responsible for forecasting, says DeMaurice.
Weather service stations across the country are victims of new technology and downsizing mandated by Congress, which ordered that 249 stations be reduced to 117.
Congress asked for public reaction to the change, expecting about 3,500 responses, DeMaurice said. Instead, 69,000 people spoke out. Although there are no numbers on how many responses came from North Carolina, three areas in the state - Cape Hatteras, Charlotte and Asheville - were among 32 where people said they had concerns about the closings.
``We're used to knowing Wally's there doing his job,'' says Clarence Skinner, vice chairman of the Dare County commissioners and chairman of the Dare County Control Group, the emergency response team that goes to works in events like hurricanes.
``It's tough to think that he doesn't have the instruments he used to have and won't be forecasting,'' Skinner said.
Dare County is so concerned that it has provided a satellite weather link called Data Transmission Network, Skinner says.
Although the revised weather service has done a fine job, particularly in predicting the track of hurricanes this year, Skinner says he still feels uncomfortable that the local meteorologist is being replaced by computers and radar.
Dare County is far from the Doppler radars in Wakefield and Newport, and those radars look into the atmosphere and not on the ground, Skinner says. When a famous Hatteras low hits, ``they just aren't going to see it,'' he says.
On the other hand, ``I do feel the National Weather Service can still get the job done,'' he says. ``Resisting change is just human nature.''
DeMaurice is so important to the residents of Hatteras Island that the local newspaper, The Island Breeze, wrote an article titled ``Let's Keep Wally Working.''
``If our weather services must come from offices far away, it is at least comforting to know that there is a warm body here, especially one with the experience that DeMaurice has,'' the editorial read.
At some point - and even DeMaurice isn't sure when - his title will change to warning coordination officer, which will be a demotion. And that job in temporary: after two years, it will be phased out.
DeMaurice says he bid on the job anyway because he likes the people in Dare County so much. Besides, he is already 59 and could retire.
Overall, DeMaurice says the changes in the weather service are good. Forecasts are improving, and meteorologists have a better understanding of weather systems.
But DeMaurice says meteorologists have become more like engineers, sitting at computers and manipulating data. That doesn't interest DeMaurice, who's accustomed to a personal relationship with residents.
Just recently, there were the weeks when the weather report from Cape Hatteras on The Weather Channel read ``no observation.'' It seems the weather service had changed computer identifiers, and The Weather Channel couldn't get the readings.
``They were calling me at home, calling me and fussing at me,'' DeMaurice says.
``One thing I can say about Cape Hatteras - they have a very high feeling for their weather service,'' DeMaurice says.
There are reasons for that. When you live on a stretch of barrier islands that sits between the Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, and the only way to the mainland is via several bridges and a two-lane road that's frequently overwashed, weather plays a large part in day-to-day decisions.
For example, Cape Hatteras School officials have to decide whether they will be able to get students back on a bus from a game in another county. Fishing is a big industry, and fishermen or charter boat businesses must know the weather forecast.
Just last week, people called DeMaurice all week wanting to know the weather report for the weekend. He told them it didn't look good for Saturday, but they might be able to salvage something out of Sunday.
When DeMaurice awoke about 7:15 a.m. Saturday, the weather was perfectly still; the sun was out. By 8:30 a.m., however, the wind was screeching and the rain was coming down in torrential sheets.
Just more proof of the old saying that if you don't like the weather on Hatteras, hang around for an hour and it will change.
DeMaurice has advised the Newport office, which is responsible for 18 counties, that 80 percent of its problems will occur on Hatteras Island. N.C. 12 will be under water, as a rule, at least three times a year; severe storms can cause soundside flooding; and every so often, a dredge may knock out a chunk of the Bonner Bridge, the island's only link to the mainland, as happened in 1990.
He says the worst weather he's experienced was in 1993, when the eye of Hurricane Emily, a category 2 storm, just missed Hatteras Island. The storm damaged 700 homes on an island that has a year-round population of 5,500.
One in every 10 hurricanes has passed within 65 miles of Cape Hatteras since 1865, says DeMaurice. None of those was a category 4 or 5, the ones with the highest winds.
``We've been blessed,'' says DeMaurice.
And where will DeMaurice be when the big one hits?
``I've told people they will hear a repeat message on NOAA weather radio because I'm going to be out of here.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Wally DeMaurice, who has worked for the National Weather Service for
35 years, will become a liaison to the public - he's no longer
responsible for forecasting. ``We're used to knowing Wally's there
doing his job,'' says Clarence Skinner, vice chairman of the Dare
County commissioners. Dare County, where weather is important, is
concerned, Skinner says.
by CNB