BP Oil Spill: Tourism Industry Suffering on July 4th Weekend
As oil threatens to move toward Miami, tourism business down along Gulf Coast.
DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. July 2, 2010— -- There is growing fear that the oil-polluted waters could soon spread beyond the boundaries of the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the tourism industry along the eastern Florida coast.
Government forecasters now say there's up to an 80 percent chance that the massive spill will reach the waters off Miami by the middle of August, caught in the loop current around Florida and then pushed northward up the state's east coast at a rate of 100 miles per day.
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"Just because it's not happening now, it's still prudent to plan that there is a possibility for that to happen," warned NOAA scientist Debbie Payton today.
If it gets in the loop current, the oil would bypass Florida's west coast, but it would thread through the delicate environment of the Florida Keys before moving toward Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Most forecasts anticipate that Louisiana will continue to be besieged by the oil, though Texas will be spared.
NOAA officials say that Miami would see weathered tarballs, not thick blankets of oil, but that type of material has already been enough to sap places like Dauphin Island, Ala. of beachgoers.
Along the Gulf Coast, it should have been a fun holiday weekend with free-spending tourists packing the beaches, but instead cleanup crews patrol the sand.
Dauphin Island real estate agent Amy Vice said bookings have dropped dramatically.
"Last year this time I had 111," Vice said. "We've got ten coming in tomorrow.
Vice said that most of her day is spent sifting through cancellations.
"I'm afraid that what's going to happen is once it is capped and it's finished and cleaned up, people won't come back," Vice said. "We have a lot of repeat customers and they're trying to keep with us, but they are afraid to bring their families down here."
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