- Title: Some Florida boat residents to ride out Dorian, hoping for the best
- Date: 2nd September 2019
- Summary: MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) BOATS AT MARINA VARIOUS OF MARILYN FOSTER, 61-YEAR-OLD BOAT OWNER, LYING ON A DECK CHAIR ON HER BOAT VARIOUS OF FOSTER WITH U.S. FLAG LOOKING OUT FROM HER BOAT VARIOUS OF MARVIN FOSTER TYING ROPE FROM HIS BOAT TO POLE PEOPLE TYING UP BOAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARILYN FOSTER, 61-YEAR-OLD BOAT OWNER, SAYING: "It makes us put more lines on the boat. It makes us pray a little harder. It makes us you know do the things that are necessary to stay afloat and faith without works is dead. You can't just have faith in God and sit down and go to sleep. You got to do things. You got to help God out. He's got a lot of people to take care of. So we do our part. He'll do his part. And we have faith that it will be okay." TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MARINA OFFICIALS CHECKING BOATS VARIOUS OF BOAT OWNERS SECURING THEIR BOATS MARINA OFFICIALS GETTING ON THE BOAT OWNED BY NED AND LISA KEAHEY VARIOUS OF MARINA OFFICIAL TYING ROPE INSIDE BOAT MARINA OFFICIAL TELLING THE KEAHEYS THEY ARE FINE AND WALKING OUT (SOUNDBITE) (English) NED KEAHEY, 56-YEAR-OLD BOAT OWNER, SAYING: "I will not get off this boat during the hurricane for any reason at all, save a human life. If a human's life is in jeopardy, then obviously I'm going to do whatever is necessary. But as far as people who don't care about their boats, people that don't try about their boats, why should I care about their boat being destroyed if they don't have the wherefore all to do it themselves." MARINA OFFICIAL WALKING OFF BOAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) LISA KEAHEY, 49-YEAR-OLD BOAT OWNER, SAYING: "Irma was bad. We were in Merritt Island and it looked like we had a spider web on the boat because we had so many lines out. We only lost power twice for three and a half minutes each but we were up until 5 a.m. just in case because this isn't a play toy, this is our home. (NED SAYING:) "Yeah." (LISA:) And we can't afford to buy another one." KEAHEY'S DOG RUNNING ON DECK VARIOUS OF LISA KEAHEY HOLDING HER DOG ON DECK
- Embargoed: 16th September 2019 01:10
- Keywords: Hurricane Dorian storm boats hurricane marina yachts
- Location: TITUSVILLE AND MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- City: TITUSVILLE AND MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUTUEYV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ned and Lisa Keahey were well aware that the second-most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record was heading for them, having watched the weather radar on Sunday (September 1) at a Florida marina from the boat they have called home for the past 20 years.
Even so, the couple had no intention of evacuating their sailboat as the monster Category 5 storm churned westward with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (295 kph).
"I will not get off this boat during the hurricane for any reason at all, save a human life," said Ned, 56. "It's home," added 49-year-old Lisa.
Dozens of Floridians who live in boats in marinas along the Atlantic Coast in Brevard County were rushing to secure their vessels on Sunday, strapping them to docks and removing canvas coverings from decks as Dorian spun toward the state.
Brevard County emergency officials said mandatory evacuations were issued beginning on Monday at 8 a.m. for residents in low-lying areas, on barrier islands and in mobile homes. Mandatory evacuations in Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties went into effect on Sunday.
Several boat residents said they had decided to leave their vessels and stay with family on shore rather than ride out the storm, even if they knew their entire livelihoods might have been washed away when they returned.
But the Keaheys, who share their boat with their dog, Princess Leia, and cat, Kitty Bear, said they could not afford to lose their home and felt it had the best chance of weathering the storm if they were present to tend to it.
Millions of people from Florida to North Carolina were bracing for Dorian's possible landfall or for the storm, which crashed into the Bahamas on Sunday, to veer north into the Atlantic Ocean.
The National Hurricane Center said that even a glancing blow from Dorian could bring torrential rains and damaging winds to Florida.
The Keaheys had stocked up on food for themselves and their pets, and had a 60-gallon water tank as well as a generator and solar panel to ensure the power stayed on.
Ned said they made it through Hurricane Irma, which hit Florida in 2017 as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, by staying up all night then tying the boat down with lines.
"It looked like we had spiderwebs out on the boat because we had so many lines out," said Lisa.
Marvin and Marilyn Foster also intended to ride out Dorian in their boat home, parked in the Barge Canal on Brevard County's Merritt Island. The couple moved on Friday from a condo to their small yacht, called "Current Adventure," to fulfill their lifelong dream of living on a boat.
"We have faith that it will be okay," said Marilyn, 61, who said it would be her first hurricane aboard a boat.
Her husband, Marvin, 52, said he had spent a hurricane on a boat before and knew his plan for surviving Dorian would be to be prepared and attentive.
(Production: Alberto Fajardo, Arlene Eiras) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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