Harvey Aims At Florida Keys
First it was Hurricane Floyd that drenched the so-called Sunshine State, reports CBS News Correspondent Bobbi Harley. Now another, smaller, storm is wreaking havoc on South Florida.
Tropical Storm Harvey drenched Florida's Gulf Coast with more than 10 inches of rain Tuesday, forcing schools to close, flooding homes and businesses and playing havoc with travelers' plans.
The storm left streets in the small fishing village of Everglades City under 2 feet of water as it quickly moved across South Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean.
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Near Naples, dozens of motorists got stuck in swamped streets. Neighbor helped neighbor -- sometimes, though, for a price. "I helped pull out at least 20 [cars] so far," one man said. "Made a few hundred bucks."
Florida Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for many of the counties in Harvey's path.
In advance of the storm, schools were ordered shut in such Gulf Coast counties as Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota and St. Lucie, mostly out of fear of street flooding. Some government offices also closed for the day.
"We've had up to 30 homes and businesses suffer some flooding," said Ken Pineau, director of the Collier County Emergency Operations Center in Naples.
At least five Florida airports reported flight cancellations, and delays were common throughout the state.
The storm dumped 10 inches of rain on Collier County and about an inch on Miami-Dade County, on Florida's Atlantic Coast, where two possible tornadoes were spotted.
The Tampa area was spared the brunt of the storm, and evacuation warnigs were lifted. The port of Tampa also reopened, allowing for the return of a cruise ship that had been stranded in the Gulf of Mexico with 1,700 passengers after an engine room fire.