Preparation for Irma is Mostly Complete Around the Island

     Today the town is beginning to look like a ghost town, most of the people that are leaving have already left.  Marta and I are staying and making all of the final preparations for the storm.  Still not sure if we are staying on the land or the boat as of yet, but do have several options to stay on land.   Yesterday afternoon we gathered with a few others that were left on the island for a little bit of relaxing before things start to get more serious.

     That being said, we are riding around the island seeing how people have secured their places for the storm.  One of first businesses to board up was the Hemingway Rum Distillery.  They were boarded up on Tuesday and had everything secured by then.

     Yesterday I visited with several friends that are leaving the island as they put the final touches on their houses and yards.  One friend had a landscape person in to pull all of the coconuts off of the trees and to prune them back, giving them a better chance of survival in the winds.  The preparation varies from one place to another, the variety of the residential environment.   The marina, condo’s, houses, trailers and so many other structures all have to be prepared in different ways.

 

     In the marina, sailboats are all pulling down their sails and everyone is taking the Bimini tops

down and securing all of the loose items around the docks.  Houses are boarding up, condoes are closing the shutters and business are mostly closed, but like so many times before there are people here in Key West that will stay and hunker down and make the best of it.  These are the people that will get the island up and running again once the danger has passed.

Duval Street Boarded up and Ready