Tropical Storm Fay Fizzles Over Florida, Delivers Late Surprise

The state-issued warnings were ominous: Governor Charlie Crist repeatedly aired a press conference in which he reiterated that Fay had already claimed ten lives. A state of emergency was declared, hurricane essentials such as bottled water and tarps began flying off shelves and batteries were in short supply. Certainly, since the storm track shifted to include the Orlando area, preparations were in full swing.

As the storm inched closer to the Orlando area the tell tale signs of a tropical system began to appear: tornado warnings, road closures, business closures and other nuances became the talk of the day. By the close of business, though, the storms impact more closely resembled a dreary Seattle afternoon than a true natural disaster. Although heavy bands of rain occasionally move through the area, municipal bus services and other commercial establishments seemed completely un-phased. Some establishments, such as downtown Orlando's thriving bar scene, even reported higher than normal turn out for a Tuesday evening.

As the evening wore on, however, Fay proffered more typical tropical storm characteristics in the greater Orlando area. Workers at Hewitt Associates near East Orlando's University of Central Florida Campus reported blackened skies and considerable wind gusts. By 10pm EDT, residents in Fern Park-a suburb minutes away from downtown Orlando-reported heavy rain and notable gusts of wind.

As a resident of this small Fern Park community, the storm presented some inconveniences. Regular trash pick up was cancelled, citing the possibility that loose, uncollected garbage could easily become a deadly projectile in a high wind environment. The garbage trucks themselves, impart due to their broad design, were also in potential peril should the storm center shift closer to Seminole County. Such was not the plan, however, as mother nature elected to send the storm center further east. As a Fern Park resident, this news came as tremendous relief.

The downtown metropolitan Orlando area similarly escaped the brunt of the storm, though outlying eastern Orlando communities may have been somewhat harder hit. As of press time, local meteorologists continued to track devastating wind gusts and torrential downpours in eastern Orange County. Despite this abundance of caution, most shops in the area remained open for business and some even reported higher than normal sales.

The least fortunate central Florida communities, ironically, are the ones who originally thought they would avoid a direct hit. Originally forecast to receive only minimal winds, Flagler and Brevard counties instead found themselves a direct target of the incoming storm. These counties reacted by quickly and efficiently activating emergency operation centers, issuing voluntary evacuation orders and opening public shelters. With Fay still bearing down on these targets, it is yet to be seen how effective these measures will be.

Back in Seminole county, though, shelters and emergency operation centers were partially closed after Fays new track removed the county from the hot seat. Regardless, residents should expect torrential downpours, strong winds and the possibility of wide spread power outages. Although major electric companies in the central Florida region report thousands of residents without power, even the most vulnerable areas in Seminole and Orange counties, including downtown Orlando, report uninterrupted service. As a Progress Energy customer, this journalist has become accustomed to extended power outages invoked by nothing more than a poorly timed toilet flush. To report that tropical storm Fay has, as of yet, left electrical service uninterrupted in the Fern Park market is a miracle akin to parting the red sea. I suppose kudos are in order for the improved performance of Progress Energy equipment and personnel.

Of course, one of the most frequent questions posed of a long time Florida resident is, " How does Fay stack up to the hurricanes of 2004?" To answer this question, if Fay were comparable to a summer afternoon thunderstorm, the hurricanes of four years ago would be more reminiscent of the Apocalypse. Of course, if current projections of a future revisit to Florida by Fay hold true, next times stands the potential to be considerably worse.