KEY WEST, Fla. — Florida Keys officials closed schools, opened shelters and urged visitors to leave as Tropical Storm Fay threatened to strengthen into a hurricane Sunday, but residents and tourists seemed in no hurry to evacuate.
Traffic remained light leaving Key West and the Lower Keys on Sunday afternoon as the sky darkened with storm clouds and the National Weather Service issued watches and warnings.
“We’ve seen worse than this in Omaha,” said Diego Sainz, who was visiting from Nebraska with his wife and friends. They had intended to leave Sunday but couldn’t get a flight out.
Authorities said traffic was becoming heavy in the Upper Keys, where the 110-mile, mostly two-lane highway that runs through the island chain meets the mainland. The Florida Highway Patrol sent in extra troopers to assist and tolls were suspended on parts of the northbound turnpike.
Fay could start pelting parts of the Keys and South Florida late today or early Tuesday as a strong tropical storm or minimal hurricane. Aside from wind damage, most of the islands sit at sea level and could face some limited flooding from Fay’s storm surge.
Keys officials earlier Sunday had issued a mandatory evacuation order for visitors and asked those who had not arrived to postpone their trips. Officials said hotels and businesses won’t be forced to remove visitors, but they should use common sense.
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. Fay has already killed at least five people after battering Haiti and the Dominican Republic with weekend torrential rains and floods.
Fay was forecast to move up the western coast of Florida, but could stay over open water longer, said Corey Walton, a hurricane support meteorologist. Fay likely won’t traverse as much of the Florida peninsula as initially thought, but the state will be affected by its winds.
Forecasters said rainfall totals of 4 to 6 inches with maximum amounts of 10 inches were possible for the Florida Keys and South Florida.
Sainz and friend Ron Norgard, also of Omaha, Neb., sat outside the La Concha Hotel in Key West on rocking chairs, smoking cigarettes and waiting for their wives to return from shopping.
Neither seemed too worried.
“Yeah, we just had a tornado with 105 mph winds back home,” Norgard said.
Sainz joked he was going to charge Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the extra money his wife was spending in the shops because they couldn’t leave.
“Somebody’s gotta pay,” he said.
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