Key West, Fla. – Thousands of tourists jammed a highway Sunday to escape the lower Florida Keys after Tropical Storm Rita developed over the Bahamas and moved toward the vulnerable, low-lying island chain.
A hurricane warning was posted for the entire Florida Keys, meaning hurricane conditions of winds of at least 74 mph are likely by late today.
In Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency, giving the state authority to oversee evacuations and activate the National Guard, among other powers.
“It does look like that there is the potential for it to become a hurricane, near or just before it reaches the Florida Keys,” said Daniel Brown, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
Long-term forecasts show the system heading generally toward the west in the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas or Mexico later in the week, but such forecasts are subject to large errors. That means that areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina could potentially be in the storm’s path.
“Once it reaches the gulf, really, everybody should pay attention at that point,” Brown said.
As the storm strengthened hundreds of miles away, the lone highway in the Keys was packed with sport utility vehicles, RVs and motorcycles heading north to the mainland. The exodus caused a miles-long traffic jam in the two-lane section of U.S. 1 connecting Key Largo to Florida City.
Erik Juzman, 36, was among the evacuees when he stopped at a convenience store to take a break from the road.
“I take every storm seriously, so I always pack up and go,” Juzman said. “Hurricane Andrew taught me this. … I’m not taking any chances.”
Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
At 11 p.m. EDT, Rita had top sustained winds of about 50 mph. It was centered about 295 miles east-southeast of Nassau, Bahamas, and about 530 miles east-southeast of Key West. It was moving to the west-northwest at about 10 mph.
