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Tallahassee Democrat (FL) Stories from the storm in Dennis' wake By Gerald Ensley DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER Leftovers from the Hurricane Dennis notebook: · "Sailboat Dave" Volk, who operates a beach service at St. George Island, spent last week looking for his rental equipment after three of his six storage boxes were destroyed. Volk called it "a great scavenger hunt." He eventually tracked down most of his beach chairs, umbrellas and cabanas - many from sand piles under beach houses - plus one sailboat that had floated away. "I thought I was smarter than Mother Nature," Volk said of securing his gear before the storm. "But since I found everything, I guess I'm at one with her." · If you've never driven from Tallahassee to St. George by way of the present detour - State Road 20 to State Road 65 - go wide awake. The detour turns the 70-mile jaunt down now-closed U.S. Highway 98 into a 100-mile journey through the Apalachicola National Forest - and endless sleep-inducing rows of pine trees. · Florida brown pelicans, a "species of special concern," took a hit from the hurricane. The pelicans have only four nesting places in the Panhandle, including Pelican Reef near Lanark Village. In June, before Tropical Storm Arlene, state wildlife officials counted 551 nests, with 807 eggs and 478 chicks on Pelican Reef. On Monday after Hurricane Dennis, the St. Francis Wildlife Association, Wakulla Wild Mammal Association and 30 volunteers managed to rescue about 100 baby birds from the waters around the reef. With the two storms affecting all four nesting places, the pelican population won't grow much this year. "Pelicans are relatively long-lived (nearly 20 years), so it's only a temporary setback," said Brad Smith, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "But it underscores the problems of a finite number of breeding spots." · The big fear of longtime residents of Franklin County is that the hurricane will accelerate the modern development they believe is ruining the county's bucolic charm. They fret that some of the destroyed oyster houses and seafood restaurants in Eastpoint and Apalachicola can't afford to rebuild and will be replaced by waterside condos. They worry that million-dollar homes will replace the 20 rustic cottages that were destroyed. Such changes won't come easily. The 50-year-old Lanark Village Boat Club, with a half-dozen acres and a marina on Apalachicola Bay, was heavily damaged. But club members spent the week rebuilding. "We've had seven offers to sell this land," said boat club president Jerry Edwards. "But it will never be sold as long as I'm commodore, and I intend to be commodore for a while." · Storms can have a certain randomness. Waves sprayed over the top of the two-story Blue Parrot Cafe at St. George Island during the hurricane. But a plastic cup of orange soda left on a first-floor railing rode it out undisturbed. · The hurricane thwarted this newspaper's circulation on St. George Island, which until Friday was open only to property owners and work crews. Local officials made us suspend pre-dawn home delivery because of standing water and debris in the roads. Even so, many St. George customers have called to complain about not receiving their paper - including one who was incensed we didn't deliver the morning after the storm. Delivery was expected to resume today.
We apologize for the interruption, but color us flattered that
you missed us. Contact Gerald Ensley at (850) 599-2310 or gensley@tallahassee.com. |