With Hurricane Dennis approaching the region, Florida officials have ordered tourists to evacuate the Florida Keys. A decision as to whether residents should also leave may not be made until late Thursday or early Friday.
'We are talking about whether to evacuate or not, whether to evacuate the Lower Keys or the whole Keys. It's one of a number of decisions that we will have to be making probably sometime today, possibly into tomorrow,' Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office told the 'Miami Herald.' 'I don't think anybody is ready to make any decision at this point. Right now there are a lot of things being talked about.'
The order to evacuate applies to all tourists, travel trailers and recreational visitors. People living in mobile homes were asked to leave by 6:00 PM EDT Thursday evening and residents who live on boats were told to secure their vessels and leave.
The turn of Dennis to the east caused the National Hurricane Center to post a hurricane watch for the lower Keys.
At Key West International Airport, preparations for the possible arrival of Dennis were already underway.
'We are beginning to board up and we are notifying the airlines of the evacuation,' said Peter Horton, the airport's director. 'I think there will be an orderly evacuation.'
The National Hurricane Center will continue to track Dennis. As of Thursday afternoon, Dennis was rapidly approaching the island of Jamaica. Experts say the storm will continue to strengthen before it reaches landfall.
