DATE: Wednesday, July 16, 1997              TAG: 9707160465

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   68 lines

HOT, DRY EQUAL PROFIT FOR SOME BUSINESSES

For some businesses, when it doesn't rain, it pours.

While the hot, dry weather is baking farmers' crops in the field, it's also flooding some businesses with more customers than they can handle.

Chesapeake Well & Pump Service has a monthlong backlog of requests for irrigation systems, said Gigi Vanhorn. The company is working first to fill ``emergency calls'' for drinking-water wells, which are usually answered in a day or two.

``People call as early as 5:30 in the morning,'' Vanhorn said. ``We transfer our calls to our house at night, and people are calling until 10 p.m.''

Business has doubled since this spring, when Hampton Roads was wetter than usual.

Temperatures reached 95 degrees in Norfolk and 100 degrees in Newport News Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

``People are looking for water, water, water,'' Vanhorn said. ``Water for the yard, water for the house. Some people have made big investments in their lawns, and they don't want to see them disappear.''

Commercial fishermen also are hauling in new customers.

Soaring temperatures have driven white marlins north from their usual habitat off the coast of North Carolina. The fish are now biting in Virginia waters three weeks ahead of schedule, said John Crowling, general manager of the Virginia Beach Fishing Center. His company leads deep-sea fishing trips 45 to 50 miles offshore.

``We're having a very good fishing season,'' Crowling said. ``Fishermen from North Carolina are coming up here to fish.''

The dry weather has meant more sunny days for fishing, he said. Breezes off the water and from the boat's movement keep temperatures a bit cooler in the water than on land, Crowling said. And the lack of rain also means less wind to create choppy seas.

Sunny weather has also meant steady traffic at golf courses such as Cypress Point Country Club in Virginia Beach.

``We definitely have more golf play now than we would if it's a long rainy season,'' said country club general manager Mike Fentress. ``People even play in the high temperatures.''

But the weather is taking a toll on the turf, he said.

And many people who make their living outdoors are suffering.

Some lawn care businesses are sending their hourly workers home early - with smaller paychecks. Dry, brown grass doesn't need much cutting, after all.

Best Lawn Services typically mows 20 lawns a day, said owner Mark Robison. Now, Robison is servicing only 14.

Although he hasn't laid off any of his five employees, he has cut back on all of their hours. Instead of cutting his customers' lawns once a week, he now visits them only twice a month. If it doesn't rain soon, he'll be down to once a month, he said.

``Even if we could cut the grass, it would be too hot to work,'' Robison said. ``Right now, the grass is so dry, it's like cutting hay. It's all dust. If you don't have a water sprinkling system, you don't have a lawn.''

The heat is just as hard on construction workers. While little rain means that contractors can report to work every day, many call it quits by noon. Those who don't sometimes suffer for it.

Several of Chesapeake builder Tom Wisenbaker's employees have passed out from the heat. Wisenbaker, who runs Rosewell Homes Inc., said his company now has about as many labor delays from the heat as if the weather were stormy.

``The guys are just beat,'' Wisenbaker said. ``You just can't tolerate this heat.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

LITTLE RELIEF IN SIGHT

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

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