Tourists Ordered Out
It's 89 degrees here and partly cloudy -- a great day -- but a State of Emergency has been declared (at noon today) by Monroe County, and the Emergency Operations Center will be activated at Level One at 6:00 a.m. on Monday. Monroe County Emergency Management has ordered a mandatory evacuation of all visitors and non-residents in the Florida Keys as a result of the Hurricane Ernesto. The evacuation order was to begin at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.
According to the National Westher Service at 2:00 p.m. the Center of Ernesto was located near lattitude 17.8 North Longitude 73.9 West or about 680 Miles southeast of Key West. The hurricane is moving toward the northwest at about 9 mph, and this general direction is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. The center is expected to pass very near the southwestern tip of Haiti during the next several hours, then near the southeastern coast of Cuba on Monday morning. As the hurricane passes over land, (Haiti and Cuba) it may weaken. Currently the maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph which is a Category 1 hurricane. Another weather bulletin will be issued later this afternoon after a check of the winds by hurricane hunter aircraft.
If you are a tourist, you have been ordered to leave. If you are not here and you are a tourist, you are not likely to get here. Because there is only one highway off this island, tourists are always evacuated earlier than others, and that is done in stages to avoid as much congestion as possible. The authorities will try to err on the side of caution -- better to evacuate tourists than not. Also, all the "staff" of businesses that serve tourism will need care for themselves and their families, so if you are a tourist, please understand when you are asked to evacuate.
For residents, it is not too early to check your Hurricane Plan and make sure you have needed supplies if you haven't done so. Most of us are pretty relaxed about this, but we all appreciate what we must do. We'll start by making sure that we have a full tank of gas in the car and that all cell phones, computers, flashlights, and other gagets that need charging are fully charged and have extra batteries. We'll be making sure that at least one portable radio that will bring in a Miami station is working properly. We'll be keeping watch on the track of the hurricane, and will act accordingly.
By the way, if you are a resident and are away, it may be time to put your backup preparation plan into place -- finding someone to button down your home if you didn't do that before you left and you think you might not get back in time to do your own preparations.
According to the National Westher Service at 2:00 p.m. the Center of Ernesto was located near lattitude 17.8 North Longitude 73.9 West or about 680 Miles southeast of Key West. The hurricane is moving toward the northwest at about 9 mph, and this general direction is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. The center is expected to pass very near the southwestern tip of Haiti during the next several hours, then near the southeastern coast of Cuba on Monday morning. As the hurricane passes over land, (Haiti and Cuba) it may weaken. Currently the maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph which is a Category 1 hurricane. Another weather bulletin will be issued later this afternoon after a check of the winds by hurricane hunter aircraft.
If you are a tourist, you have been ordered to leave. If you are not here and you are a tourist, you are not likely to get here. Because there is only one highway off this island, tourists are always evacuated earlier than others, and that is done in stages to avoid as much congestion as possible. The authorities will try to err on the side of caution -- better to evacuate tourists than not. Also, all the "staff" of businesses that serve tourism will need care for themselves and their families, so if you are a tourist, please understand when you are asked to evacuate.
For residents, it is not too early to check your Hurricane Plan and make sure you have needed supplies if you haven't done so. Most of us are pretty relaxed about this, but we all appreciate what we must do. We'll start by making sure that we have a full tank of gas in the car and that all cell phones, computers, flashlights, and other gagets that need charging are fully charged and have extra batteries. We'll be making sure that at least one portable radio that will bring in a Miami station is working properly. We'll be keeping watch on the track of the hurricane, and will act accordingly.
By the way, if you are a resident and are away, it may be time to put your backup preparation plan into place -- finding someone to button down your home if you didn't do that before you left and you think you might not get back in time to do your own preparations.
posted by Conchette at 2:37 PM
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