Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tension and fear across South Florida turn to relief.
Floridians sigh as Hurricane Dorian starts to move on
Days of tension and fear turned to relief Tuesday along Florida’s Treasure Coast as Hurricane Dorian inched away from the region.
Residents in northern Martin and St. Lucie counties woke to wind and rain and some power outages. Property owners remained weary and pensive as they waited for the slow-moving storm to finally move along.
Though the barrier island was evacuated and closed to traffic, Florida Power & Light Co. workers in bucket trucks were busy there Tuesday morning fixing sagging power lines.
Former Hollywood resident Michael Remaly didn’t heed the mandatory evacuation for Fort Pierce’s coast. Remaly retired in January from a career with the FEC railways and lives directly on the beach in Fort Pierce.
At mid-morning Tuesday, he sat on his new boardwalk watching violent ocean surf eat into the sand.
Remaly said he was used to being the last to leave, when he was a manager with the railroad.
“I know when to run,” he said.
At the Hampton Inn in Stuart, all rooms were full overnight Monday, and tree crews and displaced residents filled hotels and restaurants that were open.
Caroline Bell said she brought her 93-year-old mother to the hotel Monday night in fear she’d lose power at home. She envisioned her mom trying to walk to the bathroom in the dark.
Instead, power went out at the hotel Tuesday morning for about an hour. Ball decided to check out and take her mother back home to Port St. Lucie.
With the elevator out of service, her mom, Annette Neucombe, delicately walked down four flights of stairs while a stranger carted her walker. Hampton Inn workers hung plastic glow sticks from the stair railings.
“We came here because we thought we’d have power,” Neucombe said. “I wouldn’t get in that elevator if my life depended on it,” another elderly woman said as she headed down the stairwell.
The Treasure Coast, composed of Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie counties, is said to have gotten its name from a Spanish treasure fleet lost in a hurricane some 300 years ago.
In Fort Pierce, the Hurricane Grill and Wings was boarded up — with a plywood sign offering a widely shared sentiment: “Go away Dorian.”
Farther south, as the Treasure Coast turns into the Gold Coast in northern Palm Beach County, Dorian had already moved farther away, and people were beginning to relax.
Jupiter Beach Park was sparse on Tuesday morning near the waters. Alex Huddas and his friends were among the few people watching the waves. Off school and standing away from the shoreline watching the crashing waves, they were trying to decide whether it would be safe to surf.
“Days like these are some of the only chances we get in Florida,” Huddas said.
Glennon was also out walking near the shoreline. He had spent the morning body surfing in the waves, pleased with the fact that Jupiter was seemingly spared by Dorian. “We got lucky,” he said. “I’m celebrating.”
Glennon’s joyous mood quickly shifted when a band of pelting rain and strong winds swept through the shoreline and sent him running back to his car. Huddas and his friends fled, too.
After the rains passed, Lucy and Robert from Jupiter crept onto the sand to stare at the large waves. A gust of wind swept by again, and they ducked for cover in the trees near the sand.
Robert said that the storm had him nervous for some time. “We got spared,” he said.
Lucy believes that Dorian served as a warning for the rest of hurricane season. “At least it made us prepare,” Lucy said. “Now we have all our supplies for the next one. Now we know what to do.”