I'm feeling a bit of deja vu here. I see Hurricane Bertha is back at it again. Again you ask? Yep. There was a Hurricane Bertha back in 1996 and I was right in the middle of it. Thank goodness it looks like it's staying offshore otherwise I might think I'm jinxed.
I was a cub reporter as they say in Morehead City, NC back then. Just a few months on the job when Hurricane Bertha hit. I spent all night being blown away on the beach. I became known around town as "that girl in the yellow slicker during the hurricane." (add your own Down East North Carolina accent here..)
The next day I saw all the damage along the beaches. It looked awful but I thought all was well for me, since I lived inland and my car was parked at the office. Oh how I was wrong.
I got a call from my news director. Someone told him a tree branch fell through my car in my office parking lot. I thought ok, I can deal with that. Then my photographer at the time, Scott, called his wife as we were finishing up our work for the day. Oh-- NO-- this was no tree branch. His wife informed me.. "Tell Sherri she has a convertible."
Sure enough an entire tree fell on top of my car, crushing the top. I was fortunate. I didn't have full coverage on my car but the owners of the TV station where I worked (WCTI) paid me for the value of my car. I was so grateful. I wasn't making any money and the last thing I could afford was a new car. There is video by the way-- somewhere. I used my car in my story that day.
Hurricane Bertha-- I'm begging you--- STAY AWAY!
