Alberto Turns Out to Be Splash in the Panhandle

Many in Storm's Path Decided Not to Leave

A manatee swims in a flooded back yard in Crystal River, Fla., where the storm surge from Tropical Storm Alberto flooded low-lying areas of Citrus County. (By Chris O'meara -- Associated Press)

HORSESHOE BEACH, To live in the path of a forecast hurricane these days is to be bombarded by dire Katrina-inspired exhortations, and as Tropical Storm Alberto moved toward this small, low-lying town of shrimpers and crabbers, there was the usual ominous noise.

The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning, which echoed ceaselessly from televisions. Gov. Jeb Bush urged caution, the county ordered an evacuation and emergency management leaders convened a City Hall meeting to encourage people to leave.

And after all the scary buildup, many and maybe most of the people here said: Nah, we're staying.

The center of Alberto made landfall in the Big Bend area about noon on Tuesday, bearing winds of about 50 mph. The rain came in lashes, and gusts swayed the Spanish moss that drapes the cypress trees. A few power lines were toppled. Water surging in from the Gulf of Mexico made several streets impassable.

But the storm, which never reached hurricane strength, proved to be no more than a mild inconvenience for most people in its way, and the holdouts savored their instincts for survival.

"Well, I got faith in God, and I looked to God to see me through," said Marjorie Neeley, 79. She spoke from her front porch as the floodwaters, which had reached some nearby yards but never hers, began to recede.

She had rejected not only the official evacuation pleas, but those of her daughter, Sandra Mills, 47; great-grandson Justin, 8; and a Dixie County emergency official who turned up on her porch as the water was rising Tuesday morning

"Grandma said she wasn't going nowhere," Justin said.

"I tried to get her to leave, but she said no, so we just rode it out together," Mills said. But before they did, "I told her to think about my life and Justin's life."

Scott Garner, chief of emergency management for the county, estimated that only 30 percent of residents in Dixie's coastal communities, which include Horseshoe Beach, complied with the evacuation order. About 50 people went to shelters.

"All we can do is get the word out there and let them make their own decisions," he said.

Despite the scientific authority of the forecasters and the sway of state and local leaders who have made hurricane preparation a priority, many in this enclave, as well as elsewhere along the nation's hurricane-threatened coasts, prefer to make the evacuation decision based on personal storm experience and meteorological insight.