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Comment by Tripatini on August 1, 2010 at 9:07pm

From Florida's Emerald Coast Facebook page, Aug. 1:

Laura Young-Irey "Just got home from Destin, we were there the week of July 24 - 31st. Stayed at Sandpiper Cove. Couldn't of asked for a more beautiful vacation - no oil, no smell, no tarballs, only rained for an hour 1 day and just some seaweed. If anyone can make it down there for a few days, a long weekend or even longer it would ...be worth it." 7 hours ago

Comment by Tripatini on August 1, 2010 at 9:04pm

From Alabama Gulf Coast Facebook page, Aug. 1:
Mary Marshall Cobb "We won't be in the water that much-we won't drink it-I'm not too worried about it-just enjoy it and use common sense!" about an hour ago

Ann Prather Speck "Yesterday-today, dosen't matter, both clear water and great beach days! BOTH hot days too! Health Dept, gave OK and all of us know that most of the oil is/was in Louisiana. We are looking good here. Sharon, you must not be keeping up with the clean up. MANY boats have been working on the trying to get the oi and still are working even after the spll has stoppedl. WE HAVE NONE SHOWING here in the water nor on the beaches and THIS PAGE IS NOT the place for negative posting, other than it is HOT here!" about an hour ago

Debbie Flach "Sharon, I was in the water last week. No oil, no smell, no residue on my skin, no rashes, blisters or side effects. Let's not all lose our minds over this." about an hour ago

Marnie Norris "We went this weekend... my daughter and son had oil on their skin and shells and sand were stickin to them becuz of it. If it is not so bad why is the cleanup crew as big as it is at the beach and state park? It is bad... Louisiana, my home state, is where it is gettin hit the hardest. Dont try to minimize this Debbie... this is VERY BAD! People would like to think it is not... Gonna be around for years to come! I still love Gulf Shores, went, had a great time... paid money to go and glad to see as many ppl down there spendin money as were." about an hour ago

Marnie Norris "We asked one of the workers why all the sand was under the bridge... told us it was for storing the sand that got nasty. I assumed it was the oil... that is where we saw the most oil on our skin, not so much at the public beach in gulf shores." about an hour ago

Marnie Norris "Went to Biloxi and the clean up crew there said they had to get it out before it got stuck in the sand. They have buoy's all over, tryin to keep it off the rocks in Dauphin Island, Fort MOrgan, etc... went all over this week... not good... not tryin to be negative... but so many times ppl would like to pretend it is all gettin better when we have not even touched the bad part of it yet!"about an hour ago

Dave Gibbons "We got there the day this whole mess started in April and had a great time (of course). We love GS so much that we are coming back in a few weeks. The pictures look great and we feel very confident that we will enjoy this trip as much as we did the last. This will be our second trip this year (never did 2 in 1 year). Call it a show of support or just a love of the area, but nothing will keep us from enjoying the beautiful beach and gulf. Can I come now or do I have to wait until my reservation on the 19th?" about an hour ago

Comment by Tripatini on August 1, 2010 at 8:58pm

Comment by Tripatini on August 1, 2010 at 8:19pm

From Bradenton Herald (Florida)/McClatchy Newspapers, Aug. 1:

Gulf States Now Worry About Restoring Their Image
By Grace Gagliano and Sara Kennedy

"The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill has delivered two blows to the states that border the Gulf of Mexico: the actual presence of oil, and the perception that oil is everywhere. From Louisiana's oil-polluted marshes to Florida's sugary-white sands, most of which remained free of oil's taint, officials worry that they can't restore the region's battered image.

'The damage, it has been done,' said Mike Foster, vice president of marketing for the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau in Alabama. 'This is both real damage and damage caused by perception. But we're not soaking and dripping in oil.'

'If you're a traveler sitting in Chicago spending the day watching CNN, frankly your impression might be that oil has covered the entire Gulf Coast,' said Geoff Freeman, senior vice president for the U.S. Travel Association. 'I don't think any community can think it won't be treated differently by travelers because oil has or hasn't washed ashore. They're watching the news, but the complexity of the situation is not understood.'

For two weeks no oil has flowed into the Gulf since BP engineers managed to seal the Deepwater Horizon well with a containment cap. The amount of oil on the water's surface has dropped to the point where officials say they are having a hard time finding it. Mississippi has begun scaling back the number of boats assigned to search for oil and has begun hauling in the miles of boom that had been strung along the coast.

Still, officials worry that not everyone will react like Kristie Taylor, 32, a resident of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who vacationed this year at Gulf Shores, Ala., just as she had as a child. Although she dreaded the oil pollution, she couldn't stand the thought of skipping a summer there.

'I felt like I was at a funeral,' she said. 'It was just this looming feeling that something bad had happened. My 2-year-old daughter kept asking why she couldn't go in the water. I just kept telling her the beach is hurt, but it's going to feel better.'

Taylor plans to visit again next year and the year after.

'It was still the same wonderful people there, the wonderful food was there, even the waves and sound of the ocean were the same,' Taylor said. 'We still believe the beach will come back; we're cheering on everyone else to go. But it broke my heart to see that.'

In Franklin County, Fla., the oil never sullied the beaches, but few there can shake the sense of looming doom that they've lived with for more than three months.

'I ... don't think we'll see the end of the fallout during our lifetimes,' said Dale Julian, 59, who owns a bookstore in the town of Apalachicola. Business remained strong throughout the crisis, but Julian can't believe something worse won't happen.

'It's a very strange tension between sadness and horror ... and the daily routine of good, strong book sales and cheery people who come every year,' she said. 'People have been on high alert for three months. Frankly, I can't believe we're not going to see negative effects.'

Those in the tourism industry are in full-fledged crisis mode. Estimates place the possible business losses over the next three years because of the oil spill at $22.7 billion.

When the spill was at its worst, the convention and visitors' bureau in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala., determined that the best policy was to tell potential visitors about oil that arrived on the beach. 'The greatest thing we have to lose is not a one-night stay or a one-week stay,' said Foster. 'The greatest thing we stand to lose is credibility. We're about a 70 percent repeat business, so we cannot afford to tell a misleading story.'

'This time of year, on a normal year, we're running between 75 to 95 percent occupancy levels,' Foster said. 'We're running just about 50 percent occupancy right now.'

With some beaches off-limits because of oil, the Alabama Tourism Bureau began building its promotions around the state's non-beach attractions, highlighting the Gulf Coast Zoo, the Gulf Coast Pier, Fort Morgan and the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail.

'We're fortunate in that we still have all these great attractions for visitors,' spokeswoman Edith Parten said.

In Florida, state tourism officials are grateful that -- with the exception of some pockets in the Panhandle -- the coast remained clean and clear and the beaches open for swimming.

Still, Chris Thompson, chief executive officer of Visit Florida, has serious concerns about the financial dent Florida might endure. A June survey by YPartnership of 1,300 leisure travelers found that 10 percent feel uneasy about vacationing in the Sunshine State because of the spill.

It's a small percentage from a small sample of travelers, Thompson acknowledges, but he wonders how many tourists have that same impression.

'Ten percent against a $60 billion tourism economy -- that's a pretty big number,' Thompson said. 'That would be on top of any kind of deficits the state has had to deal with from two years of economic downturn.'

...In Cortez, Fla., 40 miles south of Tampa, hotels and charter boat businesses got a sudden wave of tourists who usually vacation farther north.

Capt. Kim Ibasfalean, owner of a charter boat business in Cortez, said her bookings are up over last year, and some of the local hotels are up as much as 30 percent.

But no one is celebrating yet.

Those who fish for a living are watching the weather and the waves closely, hoping for the best.

What Kim's husband, Mark Ibasfalean, fears most is the oil that hasn't come ashore and may be floating thousands of feet below the surface of the Gulf.

'Nobody knows what that will do,' he said. 'You've got to be optimistic, the bottom line is yes, there's tourists coming here because they're not going to the Panhandle. That's what's happening for the moment. It may not last.'

Comment by Tripatini on July 31, 2010 at 6:50pm

From Sun Herald (Biloxi/Gulfport, MS), July 30:

Economic Boost Disappears with Oil
by Mary Perez

PASCAGOULA — The oil spill response is moving into a new stage and business leaders in Jackson County said they don’t know what it will mean to the local economy.

With the temporary cap stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf, cleanup workers who have been in South Mississippi since soon after the oil platform explosion on April 20 are heading home.

'They’re leaving tomorrow,' said Eddie Glatfelter, general manager of Studio Suites Hotel in Pascagoula. He said people who came from across Mississippi and Louisiana were laid off this week. They rented 32 hotel rooms for a total of about $10,000 each week.

“We just lost that revenue in one day,” he said.

His business outlook for the coming months is uncertain. “We don’t have tourists coming in and renting these rooms immediately,” he said.

...'There’s no new oil even approaching our shores,' said Ruth Redon, BP community coordinator for Jackson County. She said as the response moves from emergency to the operations stage, 'We know that recovery is not just cleaning up beaches.' She said recovery also is helping the local economies affected by the oil spill."

Comment by Tripatini on July 31, 2010 at 3:54pm

From Pensacola News Journal, July 31:

Florida Beaches Past the Worst of the Oil
by Travis Griggs

"Surface oil no longer poses a threat to Florida coastlines, federal officials said Friday, but submerged oil could continue to wash onto Pensacola beaches for some time.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday that only scattered patches of light oil sheen remain on the surface of the Gulf near the Mississippi River Delta.

...If the well remains capped, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said
Northwest Florida beaches are past the worst of the oil contamination.

'Northwest Florida has seen the worst. It will taper off and diminish considerably, but we will continue to see it at some level for some time,' Lubchenco said.

...'For southern Florida, the Florida Keys, and the Eastern Seaboard, the coast remains clear," Lubchenco said. "With the flow stopped and the loop current a considerable distance away, the light sheen remaining on the Gulf's surface will continue to biodegrade and disperse but will not travel far.'

Not all of the oil in the Gulf can be seen from above, and Lubchenco said submerged oil could continue to wash ashore sporadically near Pensacola.

'The oil that is just below the surface is harder to see remotely. It clearly is there, both in the form of tar balls as well as emulsified oil. We certainly
expect some oil to continue to come ashore, but in more limited quantities, in the northern Gulf,' Lubchenco said."

Comment by Tripatini on July 31, 2010 at 3:47pm

Comment by Tripatini on July 31, 2010 at 2:58pm

From Miami Herald, July 30:

Thad Allen: Oil from Gulf Spill Unlikely to Reach Florida Keys

"There is little chance of oil remnants from the Deepwater Horizon blowout reaching the Florida Keys and the South Florida mainland now that the oil leak is capped, retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Thursday during a news conference.

If no more oil escapes into the Gulf before the well is permanently sealed, which is expected to occur in the next few weeks, then there will be no danger of the oil from the spill ever [affecting] the region, Allen added.

The reason: the Franklin Eddy, which broke off from the Loop Current between the wellhead and where the current flows south to the Straits of Florida, has 'created a hydraulic barrier.'

'The chances that oil will become entrained in the Loop Current are very, very low and will go to zero as we continue to control the leakage at the well with the cap and ultimately kill it,' Allen said."

Comment by Tripatini on July 30, 2010 at 4:12pm

From Florida's Emerald Coast CVB web page, July 30:

"Conditions are beautiful today. The few tar balls that reached shore Thurs. are already being removed, so visit if you can." 3 hours ago

Comment by Tripatini on July 30, 2010 at 4:08pm

From Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Facebook page, July 30:

"Effective July 30, the Alabama Department of Public Health has lifted the swimming advisory for gulf waters off Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan based on improvements in water conditions. However,... the department warns that there may still be sporadic oil on or near the beaches and discourages individuals from entering waters if there is visibile oil present.
We have been experiencing very mild oil impact on our beaches over the last week. Beach cleaning machines continue to rake the beaches nightly. The complete information from the AL Department of Public Health look under the notes tab on this page." 2 hours ago

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