KEY WEST, Fla. — A light stream of traffic headed out of Key West today 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. today 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. They also said schools in the Keys will be closed Monday and Tuesday.
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.
The sixth storm of the 2008 Atlantic season picked up some momentum early this morning as it headed toward Cuba, and could be a hurricane by the time it reaches the island’s center, forecasters said. Late morning, Fay’s center was located about 350 miles southeast of Key West and moving west-northwest at nearly 13 miles per hour. The storm had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph with some gusting.
Flooding from Fay killed four people Saturday in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Landfall could potentially be late Tuesday or early Wednesday and it could be anywhere from the western coast to the southwestern coast of Florida, hurricane center meteorologist Chris Sisko said.
Sisko said Fay’s track is similar to 2004’s Hurricane Charley, a much stronger Category 4 storm.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency Saturday as officials in Tallahassee opened their emergency operations center.
A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were in effect from Craig Key westward to the Dry Tortugas.
A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible, generally within 36 hours. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within 24 hours. Forecasters said they issued both for some parts of Florida because they’re not yet sure how much Fay will strengthen.
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