FLORIDA-KEYS

Redondo

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Hurrikan Wilma Informationen
für die Region Florida - Keys

Dieser Beitrag wird nach und nach aufgebaut und fortgeschrieben.

Die Upper und Middle Keys, einschließlich Key Largo, Islamorada und Marathon sind seit Freitag, 27.10. wieder für Besucher geöffnet.
Für die Lower Keys und Key West wird die Öffnung für Gäste am Montag, den 31. Oktober erwartet.
http://www.fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=1565

Schadensbild durch Hurrikan Wilma:
Wilma ist am Montag mit Hurrikanwindstärke über die Keys gezogen. Der Schaden, den der Wind verursacht hat, ist dennoch als minimal einzuschätzen. Das Hauptproblem war die Flutwelle, die zu erheblichen Überschwemmungen geführt hat, besonders zwischen Marathon und Key West. Das Wasser ist inzwischen abgeflossen und es wird mit Hochdruck an der Wiederherstellung der touristischen Infrastruktur gearbeitet.

Informationen zum Flugverkehr:

Detaillierte Informationen / Schliessungen / Bulletins / Straßenbedingungen usw.:
http://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/Pages/Mo ... _EmerNews/

Links zu Lokalen TV-Sender, Zeitungen usw.:
http://www.keysnews.com/hurricaneedition/
http://www.fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=1565
http://www.keywestcity.com/
 
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Redondo

Redondo

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FLORIDA KEYS - Visitors began returning to the Florida Keys Friday, 10 days after tourists were evacuated due to Hurricane Wilma.

The Upper and Middle Keys, including Key Largo, Islamorada and Marathon, can receive visitors Friday and afterwards. The Lower Keys and Key West are intending to accommodate guests Monday, Oct. 31.

Visitors who have reservations should check with lodging facilities in advance, prior to traveling to the Keys, to ensure operational status. Landscaping at some resorts has been significantly impacted and some attractions and ancillary visitor offerings may need more time before they can service visitors.

Hurricane Wilma passed over the island chain Monday morning. Although, Wilma's winds left little major structural damage, several residential regions were hit hard by storm surge, emergency management officials said.

Although flooding has receded in affected areas, many residents are busy cleaning up their homes and trying to get their personal lives back together. The hardest hit areas seem to be in a number of residential neighborhoods from Marathon through Key West.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, as well as other relief workers, have arrived in the Keys to provide assistance.

Fortunately, officials say many Keys hotels and visitor facilities have quickly recovered and are opening for business, something that is pertinent to the area's tourism-based economy. Tourism interests have already lost an estimated $40 million in sales since the visitor evacuation, according to Florida state sales tax figures.

"While we understand there is devastation in some areas, we must ensure our employees here are able to earn a paycheck," said Joy Smatt, chair of the Florida Keys & Key West Lodging Association. "And we still have areas of the Keys that look much like they did before Wilma."

Although there is still evidence of hurricane damage, such as downed trees and other debris, tremendous progress has been made to restore the infrastructure.

• The Overseas Highway from mainland South Florida is open and traffic is flowing without obstructions. There is fuel, but it is limited in some areas of the Keys and very limited in areas of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Fuel supplies are expected to improve as electricity is restored to power gas station pumps in those counties.

• There has been tremendous progress with restoration of electricity in the Keys. The Florida Keys Electric Cooperative, that services the Upper and Middle Keys, is reporting about 30,000 of 31,000 of their customers that have been restored as of Friday morning, according to CEO Tim Planer. Keys Energy Services spokeswoman Lynne Tejeda estimates almost 27,000 of the company's 28,000 accounts in the Lower Keys and Key West are now with power.

• All three major Florida Keys hospitals are open.

• Florida Keys Marathon Airport is open to general aviation during daylight hours only and Key West International Airport is resuming limited commercial air service Friday, said airport director Peter Horton.

• Key West's port is set to reopen this weekend, with the first cruise ships scheduled to return Tuesday. Ships set for a port call include Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas and Rhapsody as well as Carnival's Fascination, according to port director Raymond Archer.

• Curfews, in effect since the storm, have been discontinued according to law enforcement officials.

• A precautionary boil-water order, in effect since Wilma's passage, is expected to be lifted Friday, according to officials with the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.

"We've made cleanup of Duval Street and other primary tourist areas in Key West a priority," said Key West City Manager Julio Avael. "Duval Street and visitor areas in Old Town are in good shape."

We are doing our best to take care of the needs of our residents who have suffered, while maintaining the economic lifeblood of our community."

Some hotels in the Upper Keys are making special rates available to hurricane-affected residents in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Proof of residency is required. For information, contact the Key Largo and Islamorada Chambers of Commerce respectively at 1-800-822-1088 and 1-800-FAB-KEYS.

Key West Fantasy Fest organizers have announced the new dates for the 2005 event that was postponed due to Wilma. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 7, through Saturday night, Dec. 10. Although the festival's official theme is "Freaks, Geeks and Goddesses," some Fantasy Fest fans are jokingly referring to the event as "Wilma's Freaks, Geeks and Goddesses."

For more information on the Keys, call 1-800-FLA-KEYS or peruse this Web site, where destination status updates are to be posted regularly.

http://www.fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=1565
 

Vaca-Key

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Hi @ all,

Sitz hier in Key West in einem Webcafe.

Also, Key West ist jetzt schon geoeffnet, Duvallstreet ist in Teil Betrieb und Diverse Hotels sind offen.

Aber ueberall noch schutt am Strassennrand und viel Defekte Hauser zu sehen.

Straende voll mit Algen.

Ich selbst musste mein Hotel in Marathon Stornieren(Bananabay Resort), die Hotelanlage ist unbewohnbar und der Hoteleigene Hafen und Beach gibt es nicht mehr, war vorhin auf dem Gelaende des Bananabay Resort Marathon und habe mir das desaster angesehen.

Habe Fotos vom Hotelhafen oder was davon uebrig geblieben ist, von der Tikibar nur noch die Grundmauern zu sehen usw....

Marathon selbst hat wohl die groessten Schaeden erlitten, eine unmenge defekte gebauede und viel unrat links und rechts vom Highway.
So geht es bis Key West weiter, sogar Boote liegen am Strassenrand...

Ich habe ins Holiday-Inn in Key Largo gewechselt und diese Anlage ist in Top zustand, man merkt in dem Hotel nix das hier mal ein Hurricane war.

Poolanlage auch Top Sauber usw., wer unbeding in die Keys will dem ist im Moment dieses Hotel zu empfehlen da die Straende noch nicht benutzt werden koennen.

Wir haben per web Standard gebucht und Kostenlose upgrades auf Poolside bekommen da die Froh sind um jeden Gast.

Irgendie komme ich mir vor wie ein Katastrophentourist, denn ausser am Poolliegen und die Zerstoerung anzuschauen kann man im moment hier nicht viel machen, aber eben, die Leute hier brauche die Touristen jetzt erst recht denn nur so kommt geld fuer Renovationen in die Kasse...

Gruesse aus Key west

Patric

PS: Benzin gibt es ab Key Largo ohne anzustehen!
 
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Redondo

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TDC says come back, city says wait a little

BY STACY RODRIGUEZ
Citizen Staff

KEY WEST — The county's Tourist Development Council is calling for visitors to return to the islands starting Friday — even as Key West officials say they are not yet ready to handle an influx of tourists while the city cleans up from the impacts of Hurricane Wilma.

The Lodging Association held an emergency meeting Wednesday attended by its member hoteliers as well as city and tourism officials.

“One thing that came out of the meeting is that the hotels and all the lodging establishments are pretty much ready and able to receive visitors,” said Joy Smatt, chair of the group. She noted that some properties — such as the Casa Marina and the Best Western Key Ambassador — were more damaged and might not reopen immediately.

In the release from the TDC, Smatt is quoted as saying “ While we understand there is devastation in some areas, we must ensure our employees here are able to earn a paycheck ... And we still have areas of the Keys that look much like they did before Wilma.”

The release also notes that, “ Landscaping at some resorts has been significantly impacted and some attractions and ancillary visitor offerings may need more time before they can service visitors.”

Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson said Wednesday he was disappointed in the TDC move.

“We've asked that visitors not return until Monday,” he said. “We're concentrating right now on the needs of our residents and building back the infrastructure so it can handle visitors again.”

Virginia Panico, president of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, also was at Wednesday's meeting.

“Most of the hotels on the interior of the island are fine,” Panico said. “The ones along the [Atlantic] Ocean side and Gulf side had damage, of course, but a lot of the rooms look good.”

Earlier Wednesday, Smatt told The Citizen that hotels could take visitors this weekend, but would not advertise to promote business at the request of city officials..

“The mayor gave us an update on the infrastructure … he doesn't feel that, with resources stretched so thin, that we can have a whole lot of people come in right now,” Smatt said. “He was concerned about us promoting any kind of event right now, so it's bye-bye to that.”

Commissioner Mark Rossi, who also was at the meeting, said the city isn't ready for tourists to come back.

“We are suggesting that people who want to come to Key West hold off until at least Monday,” Rossi said. “Just because some properties are ready to receive people doesn't mean that the city is.”

Sheraton Suites already had 100 of its 180 rooms down from damage incurred by Hurricane Katrina, and fared no worse in Hurricane Wilma, General Manager Linda Geyer said walking briskly on her way to the gathering at the Pier House.

Media was barred from the meeting.

“We really needed to have our members be able to talk very openly,” Smatt said. “To have the press there, people probably wouldn't have been as open, and we needed to find out where we really stood.”

She said room rates were not discussed, as that would violate antitrust laws against price fixing.
Displaced locals

Smatt said the possibility of hotels housing displaced residents wasn't really discussed, but that some properties were housing their employees.

Panico said a lot of properties were housing their workers, and that the Hampton Inn was housing city police and fire crews and Grubbs cleanup personnel.

An employee at the 159-room Hampton Inn said the hotel was charging $89 a night for the rooms, and not booking residents. “We are full up with the rescue workers,” said the woman, who didn't want her name published. She said the Hampton Inn had about 19 rooms offline from storm damage.

Randy Osipow is the former president of the Innkeepers Association and currently on the board of the Key West Restaurant and Bar Association.

“I'm a little surprised people aren't helping the locals more,” Osipow said in a phone interview.

Rossi also said it is outrageous that all local lodgings are not taking in displaced residents for a reduced fee.

“There are a bunch of people dealing with the magnitude of this disaster who don't have a clue what's going on,” Rossi said. “There are workers at Stadium [mobile home park] who are shell-shocked — we need local hotels to have mercy and give local residents a place to stay.”

But Dave Taylor of the Cypress House said he was under a different impression.

“I think a lot of hotels are taking in our refugees, and I don't think they're charging anything,” said Taylor, who was at the meeting. He said he would be happy to book his 22 rooms to locals for $50 or $60 a night versus the normal $115 to $220.

“I wish I could charge nothing, but my light bill comes, too,” Taylor said. “I think the Lodging Association and Innkeepers Association are more than happy to help our neighbors.”

City Commissioner Harry Bethel is urging local hoteliers to give price breaks to locals who need housing. He said he was hearing reports of locals looking for rooms and being quoted full prices. Until tourists start coming back, hotels do have space and could rent them to locals at a reduced rate, Bethel said.

“People in this town need help,” Bethel said. “You have people who can't live in their homes. Their homes have been flooded out, they are full of mold and are not habitable . ... A lot of residents who don't work in the tourism industry have long supported the industry. Its time for hotels to step up and help these people. They need to show some leadership.”

“This is very, very sad,” Bethel , 66 and a Conch, said of the storm. “This is the worst I have ever seen.”

Panico said the roads are open and so are many hotels and motels.

“We're not advertising or anything, but if some people come down, there are properties to receive them,” she said.

Ocean Key Resort had 70 of its 100 rooms damaged, said an employee who answered the phone there. The man, who didn't want to be named, said the hotel would open its 30 functional rooms Friday to tourists who were already booked.

“Then we're booked straight through until Nov. 6,” the employee said.

Also at the meeting were Commissioner Bill Verge, Tourist Development Council Director Harold Wheeler and representatives from the Key West Business Guild and the Innkeepers Association.

Citizen staff writer Timothy O'Hara contributed to this story.

http://www.keysnews.com/hurricaneeditio ... odging.htm
 

Lars

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Vaca-Key schrieb:
Hi @ all,

Sitz hier in Key West in einem Webcafe.

Also, Key West ist jetzt schon geoeffnet, Duvallstreet ist in Teil Betrieb und Diverse Hotels sind offen.

Aber ueberall noch schutt am Strassennrand und viel Defekte Hauser zu sehen.

Straende voll mit Algen.

Ich selbst musste mein Hotel in Marathon Stornieren(Bananabay Resort), die Hotelanlage ist unbewohnbar und der Hoteleigene Hafen und Beach gibt es nicht mehr, war vorhin auf dem Gelaende des Bananabay Resort Marathon und habe mir das desaster angesehen.

Habe Fotos vom Hotelhafen oder was davon uebrig geblieben ist, von der Tikibar nur noch die Grundmauern zu sehen usw....

Marathon selbst hat wohl die groessten Schaeden erlitten, eine unmenge defekte gebauede und viel unrat links und rechts vom Highway.
So geht es bis Key West weiter, sogar Boote liegen am Strassenrand...

Ich habe ins Holiday-Inn in Key Largo gewechselt und diese Anlage ist in Top zustand, man merkt in dem Hotel nix das hier mal ein Hurricane war.

Poolanlage auch Top Sauber usw., wer unbeding in die Keys will dem ist im Moment dieses Hotel zu empfehlen da die Straende noch nicht benutzt werden koennen.

Wir haben per web Standard gebucht und Kostenlose upgrades auf Poolside bekommen da die Froh sind um jeden Gast.

Irgendie komme ich mir vor wie ein Katastrophentourist, denn ausser am Poolliegen und die Zerstoerung anzuschauen kann man im moment hier nicht viel machen, aber eben, die Leute hier brauche die Touristen jetzt erst recht denn nur so kommt geld fuer Renovationen in die Kasse...

Gruesse aus Key west

Patric

PS: Benzin gibt es ab Key Largo ohne anzustehen!


Wie sieht es denn im Banana Bay in Key West aus. Wollte eigentlich Ende November dahin.
 

Vaca-Key

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Lars schrieb:
Wie sieht es denn im Banana Bay in Key West aus. Wollte eigentlich Ende November dahin.

Hi,

am habe das Bananabay in Key West nur von aussen gesehen, sah normal aus.

Ich empfehle Dir und jedem sich vor Anreise in die Keys mit dem Hotel oder dem Reiseveranstalter in Verbindung zu setzen ob alles Okay ist.

Zu der Info die Redondo noch gegeben hat, Behoerden und Tourismus waren sich hier wirklich nicht einig wegen der Oeffnung von Key West.
Die Shops, Restaurant und Hotels wollten ja auch die Sofortige Oeffnung am Freitag und waren bei gespraechen recht veraergert ueber die Info mit Montag.

Am Samstag waren die meisten Tourigeschaefter und Restaurants offen, es wurde sogar eine kleines FANTASYFEST organiesiert da ja das Offizielle Verschoben wurde.
Die City Sperte am Abend Teile der Duvallstreet ab damit das Fest ermoeglicht werden konnte, dieser Bereich musste sogar noch erweitert werden da weit mehr Leute kanmen als erwartet.

Die auswaertigen Hilfteams (Firefighters aus Kissiimee, Daytona, Deltona, Osceola usw.) sind am Samstag mittag von Key West abgezogen, die Firefighters waren am mittag noch am Shoppen und genehmigten sich das wirklich verdiente eine oder andere Bier.
Be abzug der Fahrzeuge wurde mit den Firetrucks ghupt und getroetet wie Wild und die Firefighters wurden bejubelt von den Leuten hier unten.

Die Hilfstrupps haben wirklich erstaunliches geleistet wenn man die Bilder in der Sonderausgabe der Lokalzeitung ansieht, da waren wichtige Strassen ueberflutet und verschmutzt und am samstag war nix mehr zu sehen.

Gestern Abend Regnete es Stark in den Keys, bei uns in Key Largo war immerwieder Stromausfall, Zappenduster war es!

Hier in Key West hat es deshalb wieder Bereiche auf der Strasse welche ueberflutet sind (locker 20 - 30 cm Wasser) da die Ablaufe wohl noch verstopft sind.

Touristen hatt es im moment weit weniger als am Samstag wo es ja Offiziell noch nicht Offen war, am Samstag hab ich Leute aus Australien getroffen, auch viele aus dem Rest der USA, viele aus dem Bereich Miami waren fuer das kleine impovisierte Fantasyfest hier...

Delta airlines flog seit samstag wieder regulaer hier runter.

Sorry fuer die Schreibfehler, aber dieses Webterminal hat nur eine Gummitastatur und es ist sehr muesam damit zu Tippen und zu korrigieren.

Gruesse aus Key West
Patric
 
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