Post by Paddy by Grace on Sept 2, 2008 2:03:02 GMT -7
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26226503/from/ET/
Visitors asked to leave Fla. Keys ahead of storm
The storm was tracking toward Cuba; could hit Florida late Monday
updated 58 minutes ago
KEY WEST, Fla. - A light stream of traffic headed out of Key West Sunday morning as officials urged visitors to leave the string of low-lying islands ahead of Tropical Storm Fay, which forecasters said could strengthen to a hurricane.
Fay could start pelting parts of the Keys and South Florida late Monday or early Tuesday as a strong tropical storm or minimal hurricane. Keys officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for visitors starting at 8 a.m. Sunday and asked those who had not yet arrived to postpone their trips.
"We hate to inconvenience those visitors that had plans to be in the Keys the next few days, but their well-being is our top priority," said Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro, chairman of the Keys tourist development council.
Officials said hotels and businesses won't be forced to remove visitors, but should use common sense.
Hurricane shutters going up
With the warnings, some Key West businesses began putting up hurricane shutters, but tourists and residents still strolled lazily through downtown, having coffee and eating breakfast.
"We've been living in Florida now for 10 years, so we need to get some stuff together, but we're not going to rush out of here," John Civette said as he strolled the shop-lined streets with his wife, Tonya.
Civette said they would cut their vacation short and head home to the southwest Florida city of Bonita Springs to prepare their home for the storm.
Paul and Sandy Dunko, of Naples, Fla., were having breakfast with their family Sunday morning before heading home to secure their boat and put up their hurricane shutters. Fay could reach that area late Monday or early Tuesday.
"We've got to get back and buckle up our own house," Paul Dunko said. "We're hoping the traffic won't be too horrible."
Fay, the sixth storm of the 2008 Atlantic season, picked up some momentum Sunday afternoon as it headed toward Cuba, and could be a hurricane by the time it reaches the island's center, forecasters said. At 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, Fay's center was located about 270 miles south-southeast of Key West and moving west-northwest near 15 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph with some gusting.
Forecasters on Sunday afternoon shifted its track a little more westward, but the Keys could still be affected. Fay was still forecast to move up the western coast of Florida, but could stay over open water longer, said Corey Walton, a hurricane support meteorologist.
Fay has killed at least five
The storm's center could miss the Florida peninsula, but the state could still feel its effects. Fay has already killed at least five people after battering Haiti and the Dominican Republic with weekend torrential rains and floods.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency Saturday as officials in Tallahassee opened their emergency operations center.
On Sunday, he urged Floridians "to remain calm, remain vigilant" and said he has not requested any federal help yet. He said 9,000 Florida National Guard troops are available, but only 500 are on active duty right now.
Maria Perez, 50, of Key West, prayed Sunday at a town shrine known as The Grotto, where an etching on a stone reads, "As long as the Grotto stands, Key West will never again experience the full brunt of a hurricane." It was built in 1922 by nuns outside a Roman Catholic church, three years after a catastrophic storm. So far, the 86-year-old invocation has worked.
"I pray not to have the storm," Perez said. "I am not afraid."
A hurricane watch was in effect for most of the Keys and along Florida's west coast to Tarpon Springs. A tropical storm watch was also in effect for the southeast coast of Florida from Ocean Reef north to Jupiter Inlet.
A watch means hurricane conditions are possible in those areas within 36 hours. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within 24 hours.
Forecasters said rainfall totals of 4 to 6 inches with maximum amounts of 10 inches were possible for the Florida Keys and South Florida.
Residents buying supplies
In the Tampa Bay area, residents bought plywood, water, extra batteries, generators, and candles.
Manager Tony Quillen said the Home Depot in Pinellas Park was sold out of water by 9 a.m., two hours after opening, but expected another supply in the afternoon.
"People are playing in their head, considering what happened the last time," Quillen said, referring to hurricanes including Charley in 2004, a Category 4 storm.
Key West was last seriously affected by a hurricane in 2005 when Wilma, a Category 3 storm, sped past. The town, especially the tourist district, escaped widespread wind damage, but a storm surge left hundreds of homes and some businesses flooded. The deadliest storm to hit the island was a Category 4 hurricane in 1919 that killed up to 900 people there and elsewhere, many of them offshore on ships that sunk.
The Category 5 Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 passed over the middle Keys with estimated wind gusts of 150 to 200 mph. It killed more than 400 people, more than half of them World War I veterans living in rehabilitation camps.
Visitors asked to leave Fla. Keys ahead of storm
The storm was tracking toward Cuba; could hit Florida late Monday
updated 58 minutes ago
KEY WEST, Fla. - A light stream of traffic headed out of Key West Sunday morning as officials urged visitors to leave the string of low-lying islands ahead of Tropical Storm Fay, which forecasters said could strengthen to a hurricane.
Fay could start pelting parts of the Keys and South Florida late Monday or early Tuesday as a strong tropical storm or minimal hurricane. Keys officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for visitors starting at 8 a.m. Sunday and asked those who had not yet arrived to postpone their trips.
"We hate to inconvenience those visitors that had plans to be in the Keys the next few days, but their well-being is our top priority," said Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro, chairman of the Keys tourist development council.
Officials said hotels and businesses won't be forced to remove visitors, but should use common sense.
Hurricane shutters going up
With the warnings, some Key West businesses began putting up hurricane shutters, but tourists and residents still strolled lazily through downtown, having coffee and eating breakfast.
"We've been living in Florida now for 10 years, so we need to get some stuff together, but we're not going to rush out of here," John Civette said as he strolled the shop-lined streets with his wife, Tonya.
Civette said they would cut their vacation short and head home to the southwest Florida city of Bonita Springs to prepare their home for the storm.
Paul and Sandy Dunko, of Naples, Fla., were having breakfast with their family Sunday morning before heading home to secure their boat and put up their hurricane shutters. Fay could reach that area late Monday or early Tuesday.
"We've got to get back and buckle up our own house," Paul Dunko said. "We're hoping the traffic won't be too horrible."
Fay, the sixth storm of the 2008 Atlantic season, picked up some momentum Sunday afternoon as it headed toward Cuba, and could be a hurricane by the time it reaches the island's center, forecasters said. At 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, Fay's center was located about 270 miles south-southeast of Key West and moving west-northwest near 15 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph with some gusting.
Forecasters on Sunday afternoon shifted its track a little more westward, but the Keys could still be affected. Fay was still forecast to move up the western coast of Florida, but could stay over open water longer, said Corey Walton, a hurricane support meteorologist.
Fay has killed at least five
The storm's center could miss the Florida peninsula, but the state could still feel its effects. Fay has already killed at least five people after battering Haiti and the Dominican Republic with weekend torrential rains and floods.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency Saturday as officials in Tallahassee opened their emergency operations center.
On Sunday, he urged Floridians "to remain calm, remain vigilant" and said he has not requested any federal help yet. He said 9,000 Florida National Guard troops are available, but only 500 are on active duty right now.
Maria Perez, 50, of Key West, prayed Sunday at a town shrine known as The Grotto, where an etching on a stone reads, "As long as the Grotto stands, Key West will never again experience the full brunt of a hurricane." It was built in 1922 by nuns outside a Roman Catholic church, three years after a catastrophic storm. So far, the 86-year-old invocation has worked.
"I pray not to have the storm," Perez said. "I am not afraid."
A hurricane watch was in effect for most of the Keys and along Florida's west coast to Tarpon Springs. A tropical storm watch was also in effect for the southeast coast of Florida from Ocean Reef north to Jupiter Inlet.
A watch means hurricane conditions are possible in those areas within 36 hours. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within 24 hours.
Forecasters said rainfall totals of 4 to 6 inches with maximum amounts of 10 inches were possible for the Florida Keys and South Florida.
Residents buying supplies
In the Tampa Bay area, residents bought plywood, water, extra batteries, generators, and candles.
Manager Tony Quillen said the Home Depot in Pinellas Park was sold out of water by 9 a.m., two hours after opening, but expected another supply in the afternoon.
"People are playing in their head, considering what happened the last time," Quillen said, referring to hurricanes including Charley in 2004, a Category 4 storm.
Key West was last seriously affected by a hurricane in 2005 when Wilma, a Category 3 storm, sped past. The town, especially the tourist district, escaped widespread wind damage, but a storm surge left hundreds of homes and some businesses flooded. The deadliest storm to hit the island was a Category 4 hurricane in 1919 that killed up to 900 people there and elsewhere, many of them offshore on ships that sunk.
The Category 5 Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 passed over the middle Keys with estimated wind gusts of 150 to 200 mph. It killed more than 400 people, more than half of them World War I veterans living in rehabilitation camps.