Aug 19, 2008 7:29 am US/Eastern
Florida Keys Prepare For Normality After Fay
Keys Airports Will Now Reopen Tuesday Instead Of Wednesday
KEY WEST (CBS4) ―
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Tropical Storm Fay is forecast to slam into the Keys, but most tourists aren't letting the expected weather get them down.
The Florida Keys will be welcoming back visitors Wednesday as they gradually return to normal after Tropical Storm Fay's passing.
Schools will start classes on Wednesday, and government offices will reopen.
Visitors left the Florida Keys ahead of Tropical Storm Fay Sunday. At 8:00 a.m. Sunday, Keys emergency officials issued the evacuation order for all visitors and tourists. Soon after, a light stream of traffic headed out of Key West. Officials also asked those who had not yet arrived to the Florida Keys to postpone their trips.
Fay pelted parts of the Keys, Miami-Dade and Broward late Monday and early Tuesday as a strong tropical storm.
"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.
Most major roads have suspended tolls in South Florida, including the Florida Turnpike.
Hotels and businesses weren't forced to remove visitors, but were urged to use common sense.
Keys emergency officials often take the precaution of ordering early evacuations when a storm threatens because traffic can back up for miles on the single highway to Florida's mainland.
Besides the threat of damage from high winds, most of the islands sit at sea level and could be flooded by Fay's storm surge.
Four shelters were for those residents staying in the Keys and who did not feel comfortable staying home during the storm.
Shelter locations are:
- Key West High School on Flagler Avenue in Key West
- Sugarloaf School on Crane Boulevard, bayside mile marker 19, Highway U.S. One
- Stanley Switlik Elementary School at 3400 Overseas Highway in Marathon
- Coral Shores High School, mile marker 90 on Highway U.S. One in Islamorada
Officials highly recommended that those living in mobile homes, low lying areas and boat live-aboards go to these shelters during the storm.
More information about storm preparation in general and about shelters specifically, including what you should or should not bring, is available at Monroe County's web site at
http://monroecofl.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/MonroeCoFL_Emergency/shelterfacts.
The City of Key West has already put up shutters at City Hall and the City has closed the Old Town Garage Park & Ride to the public. City officials are encouraging its public transit customers to plan all necessary travel and hurricane preparedness trips before noon on Monday, August 18, in the event that the city has to stop bus service due to increased wind speeds or other weather conditions.
Early voting was also be suspended Monday and Tuesday.
Please check the
Monroe County Website for more information on when offices will resume normal operations.
Monroe County Public Schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Click here for more information.
Operations at the
Key West International Airport and Marathon Airports will resume Tuesday as well.
Boat owners had to secure their vessels, well before the arrival of tropical storm-force winds midday Monday. The Snake Creek drawbridge, in Islamorada, was not open to marine vessels, upon the arrival of tropical storm-force winds.
Hospitals in the Florida Keys canceled elective procedures, but remained open for emergency services otherwise.
The Key West VA Outpatient Clinic and the Key Largo VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic were both closed Monday. Patients should contact the Miami VA Call Center at (305) 575-7250 to reschedule appointments.
In Key West, some businesses began putting up hurricane shutters, but tourists and residents still strolled lazily through downtown, having coffee and eating breakfast through Sunday morning.
"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."
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.
For more information, Key West residents and visitors can contact the Island's Rumor Control hotline at
(305) 809-1108.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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