Even though it seems that the worst of hurricane Ike will be south of the Florida Keys, officials decided to go through with the mandatory evacuation orders for residents starting Sunday, September 7th. The tourist evacuation took place on Saturday, with about 15,000 of them leaving - taking their $$$ with them.
The resident evacuation takes place in phases, with Key West first starting at 8 a.m., the Middle Keys (Marathon area) at 12 noon, and the Upper Keys (Key Largo area) at 4 p.m. When the decision was made, hurricane Ike was a category 4, so they decided to take no chances.
We know how these things go, a last minute bump to the north and those who left the Keys will be glad they did - those that stay may be in for a wild ride. It appears that many residents (especially those in the Upper Keys) are taking their time, making hurricane preparations, and waiting to leave. Contrary to news reports, gas stations are not crowded here, nor are they running out of gas. We, along with most of our neighbors filled our cars days ago.
We are leaving today, but only out of boredom - with the boat out of the water and businesses closing, there’s really not much to do.
If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds
