Locals and tourists are allowed to visit the popular barrier island for the first time since Hurricane Ivan struck.
By Associated Press
Published November 2, 2004
PENSACOLA BEACH - Brenda Coker cried tears of joy when she arrived at Pensacola Beach on Monday, the first time the public was allowed to visit this barrier island community since Hurricane Ivan struck nearly seven weeks ago.
The 46-year-old nurse from Hot Springs, Ark., who moved to Pensacola just weeks before the Sept. 15 storm, said the beach has always been an emotional place for her.
"It's just like being a kid in a candy store," Coker said. "You can see the store, but you can't get inside to get your candy. That's how close I was, and today the candy store opened."
She was among a trickle of visitors, mostly people from the surrounding area, who came out on a warm but windy day to sun themselves, hunt for shells, take a dip or go surfing. The Gulf of Mexico was churning, which was great for surfers but kept most people on shore, where yellow caution flags were flying.
Residents and repair workers, meanwhile, remained busy repairing homes, roads, utilities, businesses and the beach itself. Visitors were limited to the core business area by Escambia County sheriff's deputies who set up roadblocks to keep unauthorized people out of residential neighborhoods.
A few restaurants were open but most stores were closed for repairs. The few open hotels were filled with emergency and utility workers.
Sandy Johnston, executive director of the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce, said it would take months for a semblance of normalcy to return to the community, but she was thankful the storm struck after the busy summer tourist season had ended.
"If this had happened in spring or summer, we would have going, "Oh, my God,"' she said.
Johnston expects mostly local visitors for now because it's difficult to find hotel rooms, even in Pensacola and other mainland communities nearby.
A few tourists, however, found their way to the beach, including travel sales representative Blake Ashton, 20, and Claire Bloy, 26, an insurance clerk, both from London.
"We didn't want to go to the normal, run-of-the-mill, popular tourist areas," Ashton said. He said he figured the area needed some tourist spending to help it rebound from the hurricane and he was willing to oblige.
The couple took a walk on the fishing pier, still missing a section at its tip, and had a breakfast of eggs and what Americans call "biscuits" but Britons know as "scones."
"Hopefully, they are going to make it as good or better than it was," Ashton said. "I'm going to be endorsing Pensacola quite a lot."
Larry Crabtree, a correctional officer, and his wife, Julia, a school worker, came from nearby Pace because schools were closed for a teacher planning day. "There's more to it than I thought there would be," said Julia Crabtree as they walked along a still-wide beach that had been renourished last year by tons of sand pumped ashore.
The dunes, however, were gone as Ivan pushed sand onto roads and into yards and buildings. It is being removed, sifted and brought back to the beach to build protective berms.
