- Title: Florida's oldest city makes final preps for historic hurricane
- Date: 2nd September 2019
- Summary: SAINT AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) MAN MEASURING BOARD TO COVER UP WINDOWS MAN USING DRILL ON BOARD MAN USING SAW ON BOARD SIGNS READING: "THE TINI MARTINI BAR" AND "RESTAURANT BRUNCH BREAKFAST AND LUNCH" SANDBAG STRUCTURE SET UP MAN CARRYING BOARD TO COVER UP WINDOWS EXTERIOR OF WESCOTT HOUSE BED AND BREAKFAST WITH WINDOWS BOARDED UP WESCOTT HOUSE OWNER, JOY WARREN, WALKING ON PORCH BEDS ON CINDERBLOCKS TO PROTECT AGAINST FLOODING WARREN EVALUATING BOARDED UP WINDOWS FINE FURNITURE ON CINDERBLOCKS TO PREVENT AGAINST FLOODING (SOUNDBITE) (English) WESCOTT HOUSE OWNER, JOY WARREN, SAYING: "So we're talking thousands of dollars. Luckily a lot of the people are willing to wait and reschedule but the hard thing is with a business like this, you have flood insurance, but you don't get lost business. So in the past two hurricanes, it's been two to three months before I can re-open and all that revenue, all those people you have to move out or you have to have refunds. So the loss in revenue is huge for somebody as small as this." WARREN LOOKING AT BOARDS OVER WINDOWS / PAN TO MAN PLACING BOARDS ON WINDOWS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WESCOTT HOUSE OWNER, JOY WARREN, SAYING: "I don't know how many hurricanes it's been through it's still here, I love it I'm going to get in as soon as I can, if it's trashed I'll rebuild again and I have so many repeat guests that love coming here, I just want them to know we will do it again and we will open as quickly as possible and get it back to normal." CHAIRS ON TABLES AHEAD OF FLOODING EXTERIOR OF WESCOTT HOUSE BED AND BREAKFAST BOARDED UP ZOOM OUT TO CARS IN INTERSECTION SINGLE DAD, STEVEN APUZZI, WITH HIS CHILDREN AND MINIVAN CHILDREN IN VAN GATHERING BELONGINGS FOR SHELTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGLE DAD, STEVEN APUZZI, SAYING: "They take single men, they take women that are pregnant, they take women that have children but they will not take a single dad and I've been calling, making phone calls left and right." APUZZI LEADING HIS CHILDREN TO A SHELTER GENERAL VIEW OF SAINT AUGUSTINE BAY WITH HEAVY CLOUDS BOAT IN BAY PEOPLE ON BOARDWALK, WALKING DOG GENERAL VIEW OF BOATS IN BAY UNDER HEAVY CLOUDS MAN WALKING ALONG SEAFRONT
- Embargoed: 16th September 2019 21:59
- Keywords: Hurricane Dorian evacuations Atlantic hurricane Bahamas
- Location: SAINT AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- City: SAINT AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUYVBYF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: On what should have been a bustling Labor Day, historic downtown St. Augustine was instead filled on Monday (September 2) with the sound of power saws, drills and hammers as bayfront businesses scrambled to fortify themselves against Hurricane Dorian's impending winds and floods.
The storm has pounded the Bahamas over the past 24 hours, bringing record-breaking winds and storm surge, peeling off roofs, snapping power lines and inundating homes with floodwater as it crept toward the U.S. coast, where more than a million people were ordered evacuated.
The storm is doubly punishing for Florida's east coast where countless communities survive on tourism and rely on holiday weekends to bolster them through the year.
Joy Warren owns a local bed and breakfast, the Wescott House on the Bayfront.
"The hard thing is with a business like this you have flood insurance but you don't get lost business. So in the past two hurricanes it's been two or three months before I can reopen and all that revenue, all of those people you had to move out or had to refund, the loss in revenue is huge," said Warren.
It is the third storm Warren and her husband have weathered since buying their 16-bedroom waterfront bed and breakfast more than a decade ago. As Dorian gathered strength last week in the western Atlantic Ocean, all but two of her bookings for the holiday weekend canceled.
About a half mile north bars and restaurants were filled with plywood instead of customers and two-story buildings with ornate wrought iron railing similar to those in New Orleans' French Quarter were being sealed up in preparation for Dorian's arrive.
Further inland about a dozen shelters opened their doors for those who live in flood zones either near the coast or the river that runs through northeast Florida. Among the first to arrive was 49-year-old Steven Apuzzi along with his three children who for weeks had been living in their grey minivan or hotel rooms as the single father has struggled to find permanent housing for his family as area shelters have turned them away.
"They take single men, they take women that are pregnant, they take women that have children but they will not take a single father and I've been calling making phone calls left and right," Apuzzi said.
The hurricane, which was downgraded late Monday morning to Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, was last over Grand Bahama, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kph) and moving at 1 mph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an update.
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