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JON WILSONCome hurricanes or high water (or a mere trickle), south Pinellas is more buttoned up than it was for Charley or Frances.
ST. PETERSBURG - As a moderate breeze Tuesday floated flags straight and flipped light whitecaps on Tampa Bay, it was clear most residents weren't dropping their storm guard.
This past weekend, more people put up plywood or shutters across south Pinellas than in recent memory, and few appeared in a hurry to unbutton their homes or businesses.
They waited to see where Hurricane Ivan will go and whether its forecast predicted even a touch of uncomfortable wind or rain here.
"I'm going to leave it up until (Ivan) hits somebody's land," said Calvin Dutton, who owns Dynamic Auto Service and Repair on 28th Street N. "I can't tell you how many of my customers have said the same thing."
The wood on the front windows of Dutton's shop carried scrawled messages reflecting residents' storm-weary attitude:
"We gave already," read one. Another: "Go away Charlie Frances Ivan." The first two names in the August-September storm chronology had been crossed out; Ivan's remained.
Dutton said he would like to take the wood down soon. His shop is gloomy inside, surely a condition many others share.
Far-flung neighborhoods from Greater Pinellas Point to Cross Bayou, Gandy Boulevard to the gulf beaches have their patches of boarded or shuttered buildings. Sometimes single boarded or shuttered buildings stand amid long stretches of unprotected ones.
The work comes in many variations. Some windows in a home might be boarded, others not. A two-story building's first level may be boarded, but not the second. There are aluminum shutters, plywood-and-tape combinations, and narrow wood strips placed lengthwise, leaving some glass exposed.
Given last week's tortuous lines and fevered action at home improvement stores, some residents wondered why they don't see even more buildings boarded.
"I did see a lot of pickup trucks on 71st Street (N) with plywood in them. But I didn't see all that much plywood up," said Jungle Terrace resident Steve Plice.
He said he heard a lot of sawing during the weekend, leading him to believe people were preparing their wood but waiting to put it up.
Early this week, not much was being returned to stores.
"A little bit. Not a whole lot," said Jeff Porter, a manager at the Home Depot at 2300 22nd Ave. N.
"I think we kind of expect that because we sell so much of it. Unfortunately, they may need it again," Porter said.
Across the avenue at Lowe's, David Richardson was returning some sheets of OSB, panels made of shredded, compressed wood. Richardson said he hadn't used it.
But he said he would leave up for a while longer wood he installed at his mother's house in Hernando County and at a St. Petersburg assisted living facility.
The city of St. Petersburg kept one of its sandbag distribution sites open Tuesday from noon until 7 p.m.
Some officials are wondering whether the sandbags are being properly used.
Their best use may be to weigh down sheets of plastic that can be stretched over doors and other openings to waterproof a building in a flood-prone area, officials say.
Mike Connors, the city's stormwater boss, said plastic bags of mulch, top soil or potting soil might work better to keep water out of houses. They are more water-resistant than the city-supplied bags and easier to handle, he said.
Joan Evans had a few city sandbags on the porch of her Coffee Pot Boulevard home. During Frances, she watched water lap over the boulevard into her yard.
Evans also has a set of aluminum shutters on her front windows that she plans to keep up for a few more days.
On St. Pete Beach, Jackie Shaner said she'll do the same at Shaner's Land & Sea Market.
"It's just easier to take one board down so people can see an open window, and leave the rest up, and no harm done," Shaner said.
A few blocks away, the Hurricane Restaurant was boarded up, too. Across Gulf Way, the Gulf of Mexico had yet to take on a wild character.
But today's forecast suggested a high chance of rain and increasing wind.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Jeanne was moving west-northwest through the northeastern Caribbean.