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Tourists desert beaches and hotels
By ANITA KUMAR © St. Petersburg Times, published September 25, 1998 Tourists, who had kept track of Hurricane Georges all week with a wait-and-see attitude, began heading out of town en masse after hearing about Friday's mandatory evacuation. "I want to go home," said Becky Williams, a Lakeland resident attending a conference at Adam's Mark Caribbean Gulf Resort this week. "It would have been really nice had the circumstances been different. I feel sorry for these people on vacation. It's a shame. But when you're in Florida, you have to be prepared for everything." Most visitors packed up Thursday and either checked into a hotel inland or headed home early. Even those scheduled to depart today decided to get out of town Thursday. "We were supposed to leave tomorrow (Friday), but we're not waiting. What's the point?" said Mike Keating, who was visiting Florida from Dublin, Ireland. "We got information from the hotel we would have to leave early so we decided to go ahead and go." Most tourists said they did not want to take a chance of getting caught in the storm, which is expected to be felt in the Tampa Bay area this evening, or just wanted to beat the traffic. Most learned of the evacuation through announcements or fliers at hotels. At the Sheraton Sand Key, managers sounded an emergency alarm and announced the evacuation over a public address system. "People are handling it very well," said John Agliano, hotel assistant manager. "They're asking a lot of questions. We're trying to direct them to places more inland." The county ordered a mandatory evacuation for several coastal and low-lying areas in Pinellas, including Clearwater Beach and Island Estates. Keith Ashby, the city's chief of staff, said the city was notifying people of the evacuation and the location of Clearwater's 30 emergency shelters on C-VIEW TV cable access station, Channel 15. Work stopped Wednesday on the $22.8-million renourishment project along Sand Key and other mid-county beaches. By Thursday, Weeks Marine secured the huge pieces of equipment that pump sand near The Pier in St. Petersburg. J.M. Fail, project superintendent, said he does not expect Georges to ruin work that has been completed since May in Sand Key and Belleair Beach. He said work should resume Monday night or Tuesday morning. Kathy Rabon, president of the Greater Clearwater Chamber of Commerce, said she did not expect the hurricane to hurt tourism and hoped to be back in business by Monday. "People aren't afraid to go to San Francisco (because of earthquakes)," Rabon said. "They won't be afraid to come to Florida." On Thursday, some visitors who were not used to hurricanes said they were a bit afraid but resigned about the hurricane threat. "In 13 years here on vacation, we never really had back luck with weather, so I can't complain," Karin Riedel, of Germany who spends a month here every year with her husband, Klaus. "We just try to get out of the way. There's no need for us to be here." The Riedels planned to leave their hotel and stay with friends in Largo until the storm passes. Then, they said, they'll be back. For information All Clearwater city offices will be closed Friday, except those providing fire and police protection, solid waste removal and storm-related and emergency services. Trash normally collected today, Saturday and Sunday will be picked up today. Clearwater residents who have questions about the hurricane can call the city at 562-4420. For information about natural gas service, call 462-6251. Dunedin residents with questions about evacuations and emergency procedures can call 733-4151.
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LEARWATER -- By mid-afternoon Thursday, only a handful of people remained sunbathing on the beach.
