Why I love my newspaper, Vol. 392

Though "hospitals were closed and emergency response -- including the Coast Guard's -- was limited, crowds swamped the White Street Pier and Higgs Beach to watch the breakers crash as floodwaters rose in the usual areas of South Roosevelt Boulevard, Atlantic Boulevard, and the southern ends of Duval and Whitehead streets. . . .

"A Publix tractor-trailer driver had to be extricated from his semi after a wind gust overturned it on the Channel 2 bridge at Mile Marker 72 around 6:30 a.m. The driver reportedly had only minor injuries, but the accident shut down both lanes of the bridge, effectively severing the Middle and Lower Keys from points further north until wreckers lifted the truck out of the road shortly after 10 a.m. . . .

"The Overseas Highway was shut down once before the Publix semi overturned. Shortly after the 4:13 a.m. high tide, rising waters breached a sand berm at Sea Oats Beach in Lower Matecumbe, carrying seaweed and other debris halfway into the road. Officials shut down a 1-mile stretch of northbound U.S. 1 for several hours while they cleaned up the mess.

" 'We had lobster traps and wood in the road. Things that are harder to drive over than seaweed,' Islamorada Public Works Director Myles Milander said. . . .

"A conga line of sailboats held their positions in the narrow creek just north of Jewfish Creek, a sanctuary for boats whose mangrove trees protect all but the protruding masts from the gusting wind. The few boats that remained anchored on the Blackwater Sound side of Jewfish Creek were tucked tightly against mangroves, some with owners aboard, riding it out. . . .

" 'Thank God this thing went south of Cuba,' one sailor said. 'If it had hit Marathon as a 3 or 4, we wouldn't have had much of a chance.'

"The consensus was that the Florida Keys dodged another bullet.

" 'Light a candle, say a prayer, cross your fingers and remain aware,' Jack Hackett said, reciting his hurricane mantra at the Schooner Wharf Bar. . . .

" 'I initially thought this was going to be our Katrina,' Hackett said over drinks. 'When it didn't make that turn over Cuba, I let go a super-sigh of relief. But I shuttered-up nonetheless.' "