Debby puts a damper on Florida vacations

Vacationers were wearing ponchos instead of swimsuits at the peak of the summer season because of the tropical storm, which has drenched Florida for at least four days straight.

By Brendan Farrington,?Associated Press / June 26, 2012

In this June 25 photo, life guard towers on Clearwater Beach are awash from high waters from Tropical Storm Debby, in Clearwater Beach, Fla.

Jim Damaske/The Tampa Bay Times/AP

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Debby, the guest that wouldn't leave, is ruining things for a lot of other visitors.

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Vacationers were wearing ponchos instead of swimsuits at the peak of the summer season because of the tropical storm, which has drenched Florida for at least four days straight like a big shower head set up off the state's Gulf Coast.?Debby?has dumped as much as 26 inches of rain in some spots.

Disney World wasn't as crowded as usual, and some of its theme parks closed early Monday because of the soggy, windy weather. Along the Florida Panhandle, where?Debby?has sat offshore nearly motionless for days, the parking lot at the 100-room Buccaneer Inn was empty because of a power outage ahead of the usually big pre-July Fourth weekend.

"We've had bad luck on this island," said the inn's vice president, JoAnn Shiver. "We've had Dennis. We've had Katrina. We had the oil spill."

In a state where the biggest attractions are the sand and the sun,?Debby?forced many to make other plans.

Douglas and Carolyn Green of Nashville, Tenn., were supposed to spend a week on St. George Island with three generations of family, but arrived to find the electricity was out and the bridge closed to non-residents for fear of looters. They spent Monday night in nearby Apalachicola, and then all nine relatives headed to Fort Walton Beach.

"We never saw the island," said Douglas Green. "We're moving on. Plan B, I guess you'd call it."

Debby?was expected to blow ashore by Wednesday morning in the Big Bend area ? the crook of Florida's elbow ? then cross the state and head into the Atlantic.

As of midafternoon, it was centered about 35 miles off the coast and moving northeast at 6 mph.?Debby?was weakening and had sustained winds near 40 mph, barely a tropical storm.

Several areas in northern Florida have received more than 10 inches, and forecasters said southeastern Georgia could expect the same. Wakulla, an area in northwestern Florida known for camping and canoeing, has gotten more than 26 inches in three days.

A woman was killed in a tornado spun off from the storm, and a man disappeared in the rough surf over the weekend in Alabama. In addition to knocking out power to about 35,000 customers,?Debby?has caused mostly scattered flooding, but forecasters warned it could get worse.

"Even though the winds are coming down, the rain threat continues," said James Franklin at the National Hurricane Center. "We expect another 4 to 8 inches, in some of these areas up in north Florida, in particular."

President Barack Obama called Florida Gov. Rick Scott and promised the state will have "no unmet needs" as it deals with the flooding, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

In New Port Richey, a suburb about 30 miles north of Tampa, most of the 170-plus elevated homes at the Suncoast Gateway park for retirees had water underneath them. Several dozen homeowners decided to stay, despite having no electricity or tap water.

Some of those who left returned by kayak to collect their belongings.

Luisa Santoro decided to flee on Tuesday. Wearing rubber boots, she returned briefly to get her cat.

"My cat is atop the furniture," she said in Spanish, adding that her home was dry but that she feared a swollen retention pond nearby would rise further.

Portions of Interstate 10, the main east-west highway across northern Florida, were shut down because of flooding.

In Apalachicola, the hugely popular Boss Oyster restaurant was closed for the third day in a row after the rain overwhelmed the sewers and knocked out drinking water.

"We've taken a hit," said manager Matthew Bouzemann, adding that normally up to 800 customers a day would be coming in for the oysters.

In the Panama City Beach area, there was no exodus of tourists, said Jennifer Jenkins, executive director for the Gulf County tourism council. But it wasn't business as usual.

"I think most people went to the grocery store, maybe bought some board games and just decided to hang out till it's over," she said.

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