Aug 19, 2008 6:00 pm US/Eastern
Farewell, Fay: Key West Gets Back To Business
Key West & Marathon Airports Open On Tuesday
KEY WEST (CBS4) ―
The Florida Keys and Key West are slowly returning to normal on Tuesday following Tropical Storm Fay's passing.
All over the island of Key West Tuesday, the sound of shutters being taken down could be heard as local residents got back to business. Business owner Al Meeks said it's a lot of work shuttering, and then un-shuttering his business, but it is worth it.
"It's worth it," said Meeks, "it would be a lot worse if something did happen or something went bad and we wouldn't have done it."
At 3 p.m. on Monday, Fay's center pushed onto Key West's shores; some sections of the city received up to 3 inches of rain, the highest recorded wind gust – 51 mph.
Resident Jack Rice said Fay was only fair as far as tropical storms go. "It wasn't a storm as far as I was concerned," said Rice, "I've been here since 92 and been through all (hurricanes) of them. This wasn't even a thunderstorm." But the storm wasn't ready to completely leave the Keys; more rain and wind was squeezed out on parts of Tuesday.
Saturday evening all tourists were ordered to leave the island chain as Tropical Storm Fay approached Cuba from the South. Tourists spent much of Sunday and the early hours of Monday leaving the Keys for points north; by mid-Monday the evacuation order was canceled when Fay's wind picked up to a potentially dangerous level for drivers.
Some locals who rely on the city's tourist trade wonder if the county was a little hasty in ordering them to evacuate.
"I guess they'd rather be safe than sorry," said Julie Murphy. "I guess if it were really bad we'd be mad at them if they didn't, and if they do it too early, we're mad at them too." Still, many tourists took their chances, and found Tuesday was a bonus for them: they get the beach and pretty much the entire city to themselves, despite more rain moving in.
From blowing leaves off the sidewalks to sweeping the streets, the job of the day is getting the city back up and ready for business. "If you have reservations in this beautiful city, or the Florida Keys, keep them. We want you to know we'll work diligently to make Key West ready for your stay," Mayor Morgan McPherson said.
Key West International Airport and Marathon Airport, which were both closed on Monday, reopened Tuesday at noon, a day earlier than originally expected. County government offices will reopen Wednesday. Governor Charlie Crist stopped by the Emergency Management Office on Tuesday. He praised the managers who successfully evacuated most of the 25,000 visitors.
"This absolutely proves that Florida is prepared, we have a great team in place," Crist said. "Emergency management officials are the best of the best."
A shelter was set up at Key West High School but only a handful of people took advantage of its safe harbor. Three other shelters were opened in the Keys as well.
Schools in the Keys will re-open Wednesday. All regularly scheduled City of Key West and Lower Keys bus service have resume normal operations and all of the city's parking lots (Mallory Square, Key West Bight and the Park N Ride) have re-opened.
Key West was last seriously affected by a hurricane in 2005, when Category 3 Wilma sped past. The town escaped widespread wind damage, but a storm surge flooded hundreds of homes and some businesses. The deadliest storm to hit the island was a Category 4 hurricane in 1919 that killed up to 900 people, many of them offshore on ships that sank.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Up, Up, and Away With Fay
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