Hurricane Idalia helped whip up waves in Key West
KEY WEST - Waves crashing ashore at high tide Wednesday morning in Key West, a foot higher than expected, were the result of gusty winds, King Tide, and a surge that was pushed in by Hurricane Idalia.
"It's almost like as ghost town with a lot of water. It's very surreal with the wind and the beaches and the waves," said tourist Lindsay Cassel.
The crashing waves and high water at the end of Duval Street made driving challenging.
"A lot of flooding, big tidal waves, it high tide, obviously, people are venturing out to take it all in. It's just an interesting scene how crazy it is, how the ocean is crashing in," tourist Mark Buechele said.
By the White Street Pier, Jovana Shepard and her son were enjoying the breeze and watching the waves, but keeping a safe distance.
"On a normal day, you can just jump in the water anytime. It's very quiet, the whole pier is accessible to everybody. As you can see now you can't even walk over there," Shepard said as waves crashed into the pier near the shoreline.
Near the airport, there was so much water splashing over the seawall that police had to shut the road down.
"A lot of these areas you're drive through it's nothing but flood water, so you have to be careful," said resident Shirley Perpall.
We found locals and businesses pitching in to help alleviate the flood, clearing out the storm drains so the water can flow back where it belongs.
"There is a lot of stuff here. The city's spread a little thin right now, we we figured we'd just take it upon ourselves and get it cleaned up," said John Napolitano.
The higher-than-normal tides aren't done yet. Expect to see lots of water again tonight, when high tide hits just before 11. But it's not expected to be quite as high as this morning.
