Keys tourism officials ask visitors to leave ahead of Dorian

Florida Keys tourism officials Friday afternoon asked all visitors to leave the island chain as Hurricane Dorian approaches the state.

The Monroe County Tourist Development Council is also urging those with immediate plans to visit the Keys to postpone them.

The county is not issuing a mandatory evacuation for visitors, and hotels, motels and resorts can remain open at this time, but the Tourist Development Council is asking nonresidents “to calmly leave the island chain if they have the means to do so,” said Andy Newman, spokesman for the agency

A Tourist Development Council press release states the request is being made because county officials are concerned fuel, food and other goods and services will be disrupted because of the storm, which is expected to make landfall somewhere in South Florida early Tuesday morning, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.

Friday afternoon Dorian was approaching the Bahamas as a Category 3 hurricane.

Newman said that as the forecast stood Friday, showing the storm hitting between Martin and Palm Beach counties, the biggest concern for the Keys is flooding in low-lying areas in the Upper Keys, particularly in Key Largo, including the 18 Mile Stretch, the major road in and out of the Keys from the mainland.

Key Largo is already experiencing higher water due to the annual “king tides,” which annually impact South Florida in late August well into the fall.

Newman quoted Jon Rizzo, the warning coordinator with the National Weather Service in Key West, who said tropical storm-force winds, ranging from 39 mph to 73 mph, are possible from Key Largo to Key West. The Upper Keys are more likely to experience high winds, Rizzo said.

This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Keys tourism officials ask visitors to leave ahead of Dorian."