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Crist Declares Emergency As Fay Lurks To South

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 17, 2008

TAMPA - Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency Saturday to spur preparations for Tropical Storm Fay, whose intense winds are expected to reach the Florida Keys as soon as Monday.

"This storm poses a threat to the state of Florida, and to ensure that timely precautions are taken to protect communities throughout the state, and the general welfare of the state, I've signed this order," Crist said at a news conference Saturday at the Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center in Clearwater.

Florida sits in a "threat cone" from Fay, stretching from Mississippi to the Atlantic Ocean. Fay could reach the lower and middle Florida Keys by Monday and affect the Tampa Bay area by Tuesday.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm might become a Category 1 hurricane this evening before moving across central Cuba. To become a Category 1 hurricane, sustained winds must be at least 74 mph.

The storm approaches just as Hillsborough County families are getting ready for the first day of school Monday. The district had no plans Saturday to delay the opening because of weather, school district spokesman Steve Hegarty said.

"That is an extraordinary step I don't expect we'll take," Hegarty said. "We have no reason to believe there's any danger on Monday."

The National Weather Service predicts scattered showers this afternoon through Monday for the Bay area.

School officials will be watching weather reports closely to decide what to do Tuesday.

If schools are to be closed by the weather, all parents and school-district employees will be notified through an emergency phone system by about 8 p.m. Monday, Hegarty said.

If the current forecast holds, the Bay area could see heavy rain, gusty winds, some flooding and high tide on Tuesday, according to News Channel 8 meteorologist Leigh Spann. Saturday, Spann said it was too early to estimate the wind speeds or anticipated storm surge.

"If it follows this path, Tuesday could be really wet," Spann said.

The National Weather Service predicts a 70 percent chance of rain that day with a possible accumulation of 1 to 2 inches.

Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center spokeswoman Holley Wade said Crist's declaration allows rescuers to implement plans and have access to money they otherwise wouldn't be able to use.

"It frees us up to do what we need to do under Florida statute," she said.

The Emergency Operations Center is on standby, Wade said. Officials will discuss in a conference call about 1 p.m. today whether to take further action, she said.

"Our trigger point is when a storm is at Cuba," Wade said, noting that if Fay were a larger storm, "we'd be making decisions a lot earlier."

Wade said the Emergency Operations Center coordinates with the school board, the county health department, animal services and the American Red Cross to determine when to close schools and convert them to shelters.

No one wants to act prematurely, Wade said, recalling how evacuees sat on a gymnasium floor for days in 1985 because of Hurricane Elena. That storm hovered off the west coast of Florida for six days before making landfall in Mississippi, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"We really try to hold off as long as possible and be as prudent as possible," Wade said.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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