Hurricane no more, Bertha heads up East Coast

Tourist industry takes a hit

July 13, 1996
Web posted at: 12:15 p.m. EDT

OCEAN CITY, Maryland (CNN) -- Tropical storm Bertha-- downgraded from a hurricane early Saturday -- moved through Virginia and Maryland and up the East Coast, with heavy rains and winds. It spawned at least two tornadoes.

Two mobile homes were destroyed and several others damaged in Virginia's Northumberland County on the Chesapeake Bay. Nine people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. A tornado also hit the Isle of Wight and Smithfield, small communities west of Norfolk, damaging 10 to 15 homes.

But for the most part, Bertha was losing its punch, with maximum sustained winds down to 50 mph, mainly in squalls over the coast. The storm was expected to weaken as it moved through New Jersey and the New York City area Saturday morning.

Rain was expected to total 6 inches east of the storm's track as it moved north toward Massachusetts at nearly 24 mph. Towns in the storm's path prepared for possible flooding.

Bertha's winds weakened, but they uprooted trees, ripped roofs off buildings, knocked over signs and shredded power lines in North and South Carolina. In North Carolina, almost 140,000 people were still without power, and inland hotels and shelters were filled with people forced to leave coastal areas. An estimated quarter of a million vacationers were forced to abandon the beaches. At least 20,000 people in were without power.

QuickTime movies

• Best of CNN's Jeff Flock's storm reports (1196K)
  
• Storm damage in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (766K)
  
• High winds tear roofs off North Carolina houses (615K)
  
• Storm damage in Raleigh, North Carolina (329K)
  
• Radar tracking images of Hurricane Bertha (283K)
  
• Satellite tracking images of Hurricane Bertha (350K)

At the eye of the storm

On Friday, the eye of Hurricane Bertha brushed past Cape Fear and passed over Carolina Beach, North Carolina, where CNN's Jeff Flock could hardly remain standing in the nearly 100 mph winds. They whipped by him, carrying shingles, branches and other debris. (1.3M QuickTime movie)

In the background, a building seemed to have collapsed; the roofs of several houses had been ripped off or were being lifted off. (332K QuickTime movie)

"They're taking a battering," said Tom Ditt of North Carolina's Emergency Management Division, referring to the coastal towns. "We don't know what the damages are yet, but they're considerable."

"Everything's just torn apart," said Allen Sipe as he surveyed damage near his home in Kure Beach, a narrow island between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic. He said one neighbor's house "looks like you hit it with a wrecking ball." His own house, which he had boarded up, lost only a few shingles.

The storm claimed at least six lives during its journey this week through the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico. A 4-year-old boy died on Thursday when an F-16 military jet being moved to Eglin Air Force Base for safety from the storm crashed into a house in Pensacola, Florida.

Other deaths blamed on the storm included two Puerto Rican men who died when they lost control of their car on rain- slicked roads, and another who drowned while surfing. On the French half of the Dutch-French island of St. Martin, police said one person was electrocuted and another was believed dead after she fell off a boat.

Warnings still in effect

Tourism takes a hit

North Carolina will lose millions of dollars in tourist revenue because of the storm. Christine Mackey, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Division, told CNN this is a big weekend for coastal North Carolina. She estimates the state will lose more than $30 million over the next few days because of the lost business.

"Losing one day in July is an economic disaster," said John Bone, executive vice president of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce.

"Losing one day in July is an economic disaster."

-- John Bone, Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Red Cross spokeswoman Cathy Byrnside said 4,500 people crowded into 10 shelters that opened Thursday.

(194K AIFF or WAV sound)

About 6,600 tourists and residents spent time holed up in 68 shelters across eastern South Carolina. Mike Miller, whose vacation was interrupted by the storm, said he and his family were "having a great time" playing cards and getting to know others at a school, one of 68 Red Cross shelters filled near to capacity in South Carolina. (119K AIFF or WAV sound)

Residents began returning to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Friday night to find homes and businesses largely intact as the storm skirted the renowned resort city and went ashore in North Carolina.

A spokesman for South Carolina's Tourism Department said there are usually 175,000 tourists in the Myrtle Beach area at this time of year, and they spend $14.6 million per day. Lou Fontana said the state is more concerned about the safety of the tourists, and not the impact the loss of that revenue will have on its economy.

"I want to stress, also, that the southern coastal region of the state is going to have nice weather, since the storm will pass that area by," Fontana said.

Correspondents Jeff Flock, Paul Caron, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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