Florida Keys evacuated in advance of tropical storms
Tourists were ordered to evacuate part of the Florida Keys today as two tropical storms took aim at the US state.
Bonnie was heading across the Gulf of Mexico toward the already-wet Florida Panhandle and a stronger Charley was destined for the Keys.
The National Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch for the middle and lower Keys – meaning hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.
Hurricane watches were posted for western Cuba and Jamaica, and a hurricane warning was issued for the Cayman Islands.
Most of north-west Florida, from the Alabama line to the Suwanee River, was under a tropical storm warning.
The storms also threatened to produce rain along wide sections of the East Coast.
In the Keys, emergency officials recommended that visitors leave the part of the 100-mile-long island chain.
At a Days Inn in Key West, manager Lisa Kaminski already had started telling the hotel’s approximately 200 guests that they had to leave and warning people who had reservations.
“We’re telling people that the hurricane will probably be here Friday and it’s in their best interest not to come,” she said.
The Key West native said she and her employees weren’t too worried about Charley, though. “We’re staying. This isn’t a big one,” Kaminski said.
