Hurricane-hit areas fix up for spring break

DESTIN, Fla. — In a swath of sunlight piercing the early morning fog, Don Schlegel sat comfortably in a canvas chair, content with his latest catch: a small tangle of seaweed.

For the past five years, Schlegel and his wife, Roberta, have traded the chill of Dayton, Ohio, for the sound of waves crashing along the Florida Panhandle, as well as for the area's food, climate and easy living — not only for the fishing.

Retirees, the Schlegels usually make the 800-mile drive in mid-January and leave in mid-March.

"We normally stay in Perdido Key because there's not as much traffic," Schlegel said.

Not this year, not since Hurricane Ivan wreaked havoc along this part of the Gulf Coast.

The Schlegels first had reservations at a Perdido Key condo, only to discover that the elevator was out of commission, as were the pool and sauna. At another condo on the key, a barrier island southwest of Pensacola, the rooms were all occupied by Federal Emergency Management Agency workers, they found.

"Some of the restaurants we went to are torn up," Schlegel said. "In Pensacola, Ryan's Catch is gone. At the Catholic Church we normally attend, Holy Spirit in Pensacola, about 40 percent (of the parishioners) had their homes damaged. I just wonder how long it's going to take before it's really back to normal."

So do tourism officials, who have been monitoring the healing of the Florida Panhandle and the Alabama coast since Sept. 16, when Ivan plowed into the coast near Gulf Shores, Ala., packing Category 3 winds and towering waves.

As spring-break season approaches, signs abound that the area remains a work in progress: Blue tarps cover parts of homes, hotels, churches, grocery stores. Mounds of displaced beach sand are piled up to three stories high. Heaps of debris with broken bits of asphalt, concrete, insulation and furniture line roadways. Many roads remain unpassable, and scenic views often include heavy-equipment operators and builders at work.

Yet officials gathering facts about the recovery in such Florida Emerald Coast shore towns as Destin, Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, and at Orange Beach and Gulf Shores in Alabama, say the region has enough lodging and cleaned beaches to handle the crush of visitors the economy depends on this time of year and continuing into spring break, the raucous student influx that begins each March.

All the major golf courses are open, as well as many restaurants.

"We should be able to accommodate almost everyone who wants to come to the beach," said Herb Malone, president and CEO of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.

At least "46 percent of our rooms are available; that's 5,866 units," Malone said. "It may be about 65 percent by the end of March and 93 percent by summer."

The shuttered lodging along Alabama's Gulf Coast includes the Hilton Garden Inn, the Gulf State Park Resort and the Perdido Beach Resort, which is scheduled to open early next month.

"I wouldn't drive in and look for lodging," Malone said. "Make reservations."

Malone and others advise visitors to ask whether pools and other amenities are available.

Malone said Tanger Outlet Center in Foley, Ala., with more than 120 stores, is operational, as are other shopping malls. And most beaches along Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Gulf State Park are accessible and looking better, thanks to a recently launched restoration program. Workers are pumping in sand from the Gulf, he said.

Meanwhile, the mountains of sand that the hurricane hurled across the main highway are being strained of glass and other debris before being trucked back and redeposited on the beach.

Repairs continue in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and into Perdido Key. Along several spots in Orange Beach, the rebuilding does not stop when the sun sets. Men operating cranes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment work in the glow of artificial light.

"If they're close to being ready for spring break," Malone said, "some are working long hours."

Farther east, at Pensacola Beach, the Visitors Information Center tells tourists the only available hotel lodgings on that part of the barrier island are at the Hilton Garden Inn and the Comfort Inn. The Holiday Inn Express, Dunes Hotel, Hampton Inn and others have yet to recover.

Portions of the island south of the Pensacola mainland resemble a construction zone. Blue tarps appear again. Some buildings are missing sections of their roofs. Panels are absent from the sides of some buildings. Some structures are collapsing.

A walk along the Pensacola Beach Pier, which fared well during the hurricane and offers a panoramic view, illustrates the glass-half-empty, glass-half-full nature of the recovery. Men, women and children can be seen on the beach, playing football, reading, sunbathing, skim-boarding, building sand castles and swimming. Within view of them, however, are damaged structures and towering piles of sand.

To the east, a damaged section of Highway 399 prevents motorists from driving to Navarre Beach, which was clobbered by Ivan.

"About 50 percent of the property here is still damaged," Ron Hart said of Navarre as he visited the Sailor's Grill restaurant to drop off copies of his DVD chronicling Ivan's horror. "Many of the homes and other structures have been marked as uninhabitable. The 10 RV sites on Navarre Beach are gone, and you still can find places with nothing but pilings standing."

Darrel Jones, president and CEO of the Emerald Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the area encompassing Destin, Okaloosa Island, Fort Walton Beach and Mary Esther has 65 percent of its rooms available and that the occupancy rate for those units has increased to 90 percent.

"And we'll have more rooms ready for spring break," Jones said. "All of our major golf courses and shopping areas, like the Destin Commons, are open for business."

Still, the blue tarps, temporary patches on the wounds from Ivan, remain common sights in Okaloosa Island and in Mary Esther.