HURRICANE SEASON 2008

Storm moves toward second Florida strike

By Michael Haskins
35 minutes ago
Aug. 19, 2008

KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Fay hit the Florida Keys with heavy rain and winds that knocked down trees and signs before churning toward southwest Florida on Monday after killing more than 50 people in the Caribbean.

The sixth storm of the 2008 Atlantic season did not reach hurricane strength before rolling across the vulnerable, low-lying Florida island chain with 60 mile per hour (97 km per hour) winds.

Authorities reported some flooding and minor damage and said they expected to invite tourists back on Wednesday.

But forecasters said there was a chance Fay would be at or near hurricane force -- top sustained winds of 74 mph (119 kph) -- when it strikes the west coast of Florida early on Tuesday, somewhere near the beach resort area of Naples, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Although its path was far from U.S. oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, some energy companies pulled workers from offshore platforms. Orange juice futures prices shot up on fears Fay could hit Florida's main citrus growing areas.

In Key West, the tourist-dependent party town and southernmost city in Florida where Ernest Hemingway wrote many of his novels, the mood was typically nonchalant.

Jim Garland's neighbors brought their drinks to the deck of his 35-foot (11-meter) trawler, Ilene, at Garrison Bight marina to celebrate the passage of the storm.

"I flew in two days ago to prepare the boat," said Garland, of Biloxi, Mississippi, who was on the trawler when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast three years ago. "Not much to do on a dock like this but add extra lines and make sure the boat can rise and fall with the tide."

The popular Hog's Breath Saloon was one bar that closed down due to the poor weather. But many restaurants remained open even as the wind began to pick up and a driving rain started to blow through the streets.

"This isn't a hurricane. If the media wasn't down here hyping this up, this would be a non-event," grumbled Key West Island Books proprietor Marshall Smith.