Fantasy Fest 2017: Irma Takes A Swipe at the Florida Keys
Residents of the Florida Keys are a special, some would say peculiar, breed of people.
They live on a chain of islands hanging on by a geological thread from the mainland. One road, US Route 1, is the only overland way to get from the tip of Florida through the “keys” to Key West. On a narrow two-lane highway. With 42 bridges. A traveler’s introduction to the Florida Keys begins right there. Have patience or turn around and head for Miami.
If the traveler makes it to the 442 span of the 7-mile bridge in Marathon, there’s a decent chance the tropical climate has eased the frustration of driving behind turtle-paced trucks for mile after mile. Tropical is the operative word. Nothing in the Keys is going to happen at warp speed. And no one’s going to order the islanders to hurry it up.
Hurricane Irma changed that.
By September 9, Governor Rick Scott had already ordered 5 million Floridians to evacuate and head north. Hurricane Irma bore down. Many packed up, some long time residents evacuating for the first time. Route 1 North from Key West up to the Florida peninsula was jammed with traffic. Images of Hurricane Harvey walloping Houston gave even the hardiest residents second thoughts about hunkering down. For the first time in a generation or two, Florida Keys residents felt fear.
On September 10, 2017 an uninvited guest tore through Key West and the Florida keys.
The ones who stayed must have had second thoughts when winds exceeding 100 mph howled, turned lawn chairs, tree limbs and anything not chained down into dangerous projectiles.
Shingles were torn off roofs one minute and the whole roof the next. Streets flooded. Windows were blown out, trees uprooted, boats flung ashore. US Route 1, the only road connecting the keys to the mainland was impassable, cluttered with cars, boats, sheds, and appliances. In a matter of hours, a tropical paradise became a disaster zone.
Key West is used to raising hell but not having hell rained upon it.
A few facts:
• The vast majority of the Keys’ approximately 25,000 residents evacuated when ordered.
• Nearly 7,500 mobile homes parked on the island chain thrown about, flattened, ripped apart.
• 10,000 to 15,000 homes destroyed, thousands left homeless.
• Downed power lines, no running water and no cellphone service or electricity for a couple of weeks, a few days if you were lucky.
• Trees uprooted or tops snapped off, roads choked with sea grass, tree debris, overturned cars, boats driven ashore or sunk. Parts of U.S. Route 1 looked like a sand box.
Miraculously, most of the hotels on Key West escaped major damage. Many locals left their homes and rode out the storm substantially constructed concrete buildings like the La Concha Hotel on Duval Street. Much of the damage to Key West’s tourist infrastructure was repairable. Damage to homes in some neighborhoods up and down the Keys was substantial, in others minimal.
The $2.7 billion tourism industry in the Keys gives more than half the island chain’s workforce a paycheck. Key West’s most endearingly quirky “Fantasy Fest” is traditionally held in the last ten days of October.
Thousands of men and women from all over the US have had their hotel rooms and airline reservations booked since a week after last year’s fun.
Cancel it? In Margaritaville? I don’t think so.
On October 2, 2017, Governor Rick Scott opened the Florida Keys again. Water and power had been restored from Key Largo through Marathon (which had been dinged up pretty badly) down to Stock Island and Key West. Internet service was shaky but islanders got to return home. For those who evacuated, not knowing the condition of their properties must have been nerve wracking. For some, arrival brought relief, for others, heartbreak.
Pride and commerce are precious commodities here. Islanders wanted to get back on their feet and tourism wouldn’t get up to speed until they cleaned up the mess Irma left behind. They did it weeks ahead of schedule. What was never in doubt was that they would party on.
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