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Monday, September 13, 2004
Hurricane Ivan ~~ On Friday, Sept. 10th, a mandatory evacuation notice was posted for all Florida Keys residents. We at Key West Conch Traders, weighed our options and made a decision to stay put. Like most everyone else here who decided not to leave, we boarded up our house, stocked up on flashlights, a battery operated radio, extra batteries, propane for our coleman stove, canned goods, bottled water and everything that we thought we might need if the power was out for any length of time after the storm. We made arrangements to move to a friend's condo that's in a concrete building with hurricane shutters and then sat tight and glued ourselves to The Weather Channel.
When we couldn't stand to see the same pictures of Grenada and Jamaica or hear the same sensationalization of the approaching storm any longer, we headed for the Green Parrot to be with friends and tip a few. People who stayed are starting to display frayed nerves. Everybody is acting a little more wacky than normal for Key West. But now we're also breathing a little more easily.
Today, Sept. 13th, the evacuation notice has been lifted since the path of Ivan took a turn West and it no longer looks like we'll get more than tropical winds and rain. We're not completely out of danger yet and will know for sure once Ivan passes Cuba. But we're really glad we decided to stay. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. Who knows what we'd be reporting if we'd been hit! Now we worry about our fellow Floridians up in the Panhandle.
When we couldn't stand to see the same pictures of Grenada and Jamaica or hear the same sensationalization of the approaching storm any longer, we headed for the Green Parrot to be with friends and tip a few. People who stayed are starting to display frayed nerves. Everybody is acting a little more wacky than normal for Key West. But now we're also breathing a little more easily.
Today, Sept. 13th, the evacuation notice has been lifted since the path of Ivan took a turn West and it no longer looks like we'll get more than tropical winds and rain. We're not completely out of danger yet and will know for sure once Ivan passes Cuba. But we're really glad we decided to stay. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. Who knows what we'd be reporting if we'd been hit! Now we worry about our fellow Floridians up in the Panhandle.
