8/18/08
- From: Patrick1765@xxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:54:59 -0700 (PDT)
Half way through Hurricane season, where are all the Hurricanes global
warming promised us ?
What storm? Keys take Tropical Storm Fay in stride
Aug 18, 4:33 PM (ET)
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Two years since a hurricane last lashed at
Florida, many residents were taking a wait-and-see attitude Monday as
a strengthening Tropical Storm Fay bore down on the Florida Keys and
Gulf Coast.
While tourists caught the last flight out of town and headed out of
the storm's path, residents in the carefree Florida Keys were putting
up hurricane shutters and checking their generators, but not doing
much more.
"We're not worried about it. We've seen this movie before," said 58-
year-old Willie Dykes, who lives on a sailboat in Key West and was
buying food, water and whiskey.
By midafternoon, heavy rains moving ahead of Fay's core were pelting
the low-lying Keys island chain. Sustained winds of about 33 mph bent
palm trees, and some gusts hit 51 mph.
The sixth named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season was expected to
become a hurricane before curling up the state's western coast and
hitting Florida's mainland sometime Tuesday.
"There are bad storms and there are nice ones, and this is a nice
one," said Becky Weldon, a 43-year-old guest house manager in Key
West. "It cleans out all the trees, it gives people a little work to
do and it gets the tourists out of here for a few days."
Officials were worried that complacency could cost lives, repeatedly
urging people across the state to take Fay seriously. The message got
through to tourists - Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro estimated
25,000 fled the Keys. Some residents have taken steps since the busy
2004-05 storm years, when eight hurricanes hammered Florida, such as
buying generators and strengthening homes, but not everyone is as
prepared.
"This is not the type of storm that's going to rip off a lot of roofs
or cause the type of damage we normally see in a large hurricane,"
said Craig Fugate, the state's emergency management chief.
However, Fugate said: "I've seen as many people die when I have a blob-
shaped asymmetrical storm that they dismiss as not being very
dangerous."
The state took every step to make sure it was ready. National Guard
troops were at the ready and more were waiting in reserve, and 20
truckloads of tarps, 200 truckloads of water and 52 truckloads of food
had arrived.
One who did heed the call to prepare was Chris Fleeman, a 35-year-old
mechanic on Big Pine Key who was busy helping friends and family
members seal up their homes.
"I've got a generator and I've got a concrete home that I built
myself, so I know it can withstand this," Fleeman said.
Since 2006, Florida has taken several steps to make sure its residents
are prepared. More than 400,000 houses were inspected under a program
that provides grants to people to strengthen their houses.
Florida law also now requires some 970 gas stations along hurricane
evacuation routes statewide to have backup generators so they can keep
pumping gas if the power goes out. Many utilities also have installed
stronger power poles.
"Every hurricane that we have, we have additional lessons learned and
experience," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
As it moved though the Carribean, Fay was blamed for at least eight
deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, including two babies who
were found in a river after a bus crash.
It passed over the Keys around 3 p.m. on Monday, and a hurricane watch
was in effect for most of the Keys and along the state's west coast,
with a tropical storm warning in effect in the east from Sebastian
Inlet southward. Maximum sustained wind speeds were near 60 mph with
higher gusts.
No damage or injuries were immediately reported in the Keys, where a
few bars and restaurants stubbornly remained open. Authorities said a
possible tornado knocked down a tree on Big Coppitt Key and there were
scattered power outages as well as local street flooding.
Between 4 and 10 inches of rain is possible across mainland Florida,
so flooding is a threat even far from where the center comes ashore,
said Stacy Stewart, a senior hurricane specialist at the National
Hurricane Center.
"This is a broad, really diffuse storm. All the Florida Keys and all
the Florida peninsula are going to feel the effects of this storm, no
matter where the center makes landfall," he said. "We don't want
people to downplay this."
Farther north, residents were not so sanguine. In Punta Gorda - a Gulf
Coast community hit hard by Hurricane Charley in 2004 - the sounds of
drills were in the air as business owners attached aluminum storm
shutters to windows and doors Monday afternoon.
The very idea of an August storm frightens residents there, especially
those who rode out the compact but powerful Category 4 hurricane four
years ago.
"I am scared," said Monica Palanza, a Punta Gorda real estate agent
who remembers seeing trees topple on her neighbors' homes in 2004.
"You can never be prepared enough."
.
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