Lower Keys orders tourists to pack up and flee storm
The governor declares a state of emergency. Rita, No. 17, is expected to move into the gulf as a hurricane.
By Associated Press
Published September 19, 2005
KEY LARGO - Thousands of tourists jammed the highways Sunday after being told to evacuate the lower Florida Keys as Tropical Storm Rita moved toward the vulnerable, low-lying island chain.
Forecasts said the system likely will move into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday as a hurricane, unwanted news for those still recovering from the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said it was too soon to tell where Rita will go, but its immediate path would take the center between the Keys and Cuba and westward into the gulf.
Rita was not expected to directly affect the Tampa Bay region, said Rick Davis, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Ruskin. The storm's winds were predicted to reach out about 100 miles from the center, bringing them no closer than south of Fort Myers, he said.
Locally, Rita is expected to create wind flows that will blow out some of the haze and stagnant air that has settled in the Tampa Bay region, Davis said. The storm also is expected to break a dry spell, producing scattered showers and thunderstorms beginning Tuesday and lasting through the week.
In the Keys, officials issued evacuation orders for visitors from the Seven Mile Bridge near Marathon to Key West, including the Dry Tortugas.
County officials urged residents in mobile homes to prepare for possible evacuations. As the storm strengthened hundreds of miles away late Sunday, the lone highway in the Keys was packed with sport utility vehicles, recreational vehicles and motorcycles heading north to the mainland, causing a miles-long traffic jam in the two-lane section of U.S. 1 connecting Key Largo to Florida City.
The entire island chain was under a hurricane watch, which means conditions with sustained winds of at least 74 mph are possible by late Monday when Rita is expected to move into the Straits of Florida as a minimal hurricane.
Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. That makes this season the fourth busiest since record-keeping began in 1851 - 21 tropical storms formed in 1933, 19 developed in 1995 and 1887 and 18 formed in 1969, according to the hurricane center.
In Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for Florida, which gives the state authority to oversee evacuations and activate the National Guard, among other powers.
Michael Knowles, the general manager of the Hampton Inn Resort in Key West, said the evacuation order came at an opportune time. His hotel was only supposed to be half full Sunday night after being 100 percent booked Saturday.
He was telling the remaining guests to leave.
"These are like rehearsal drills for us," he said. "I'm originally from the Bahamas so this is like my 25th hurricane."
Among those leaving the Keys were about 10,000 bikers who had gathered in Key West for an annual party.
Miguel Suarez, 32, of the Miami Choppers bikers group, said he cut his trip to the Keys short because of the weather: "We can't risk it. We got to be careful."
The system was expected to head toward Texas or Mexico later in the week, but long-term forecasts are subject to large errors. That means that areas ravaged by Katrina could be in danger.
"Once it reaches the gulf, really everybody should pay attention at that point," hurricane center meteorologist Daniel Brown said.
Farther out in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Philippe formed late Saturday well east of the Lesser Antilles. The hurricane season ends Nov. 30.
--Times staff writer Robert Farley contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.
[Last modified September 19, 2005, 04:25:49]
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Lower Keys orders tourists to pack up and flee storm
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