Last Updated: Wednesday, August 4th.
Our Beaches & water are clear, clean and ready for fun, and according to BP, the oil leak has been stopped. Hooray!
What about the existing oil in the Gulf?
According to NOAA, there’s a less than 1% chance of Fort Myers Beach (or Southwest Florida) ever seeing any of it.
Be sure to learn more by reading NOAA Models Long-Term Oil Threat to Gulf and East Coast Shoreline.
Clear, clean waters as a family enjoys Fort Myers Beach!
If you’re still worried about the oil in the Gulf of Mexico affecting your Fort Myers Beach Vacation, don’t worry, we have a “White Sand Guarantee“!
We’re using this page in our blog to keep you updated –
CURRENT STATUS:
Southwest Florida has less than 1% chance of seeing any of the signs of oil on it’s beaches…
Updated 7/16: BP reports they have contained the leak, and as of right now, there’s no oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. They are continuing to drill the relief wells, and for complete information on that (with diagrams of exactly how that works) check out the USAToday page.
There’s no sign of oil in the waters off of Fort Myers Beach, or any signs of it’s effects on wildlife in Southwest Florida.
Also, here’s the official Web Page with the latest information on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.
There’s been some concern about the oil tracking toward Florida because it’s getting picked up by the Gulf Stream, but that is still 200 miles off our coast, and not directed toward to beaches of Southwest Florida.
Be sure to read our related blog post “Is Fort Myers Beach Safe from the Oil Spill?” with information from Dr. Jeff Masters on why “Southwest Florida is in the Forbidden Zone“.
LATEST LINKS:
Video Report of the Beaches of Fort Myers, Sanibel & Captiva in Southwest Florida
BVK ad campaign touts Florida’s beaches
Water Quality – http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/water.html
Air Quality – http://gulfcoast.airnowtech.org/
Food Quality – http://www.fda.gov/Food/ucm210970.htm
Drinking Water – According to the EPA drinking water is not expected to be affected http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/qanda.html#dwater
Satellite Imagery - http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/index.html
Status Map – http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/posted/2931/20100511_0600_Situation_Status_Map.548515.pdf
Visit Florida has also got the latest information on whether the spill is affecting Florida on their Visit Florida blog, and their VisitFlorida.com web site.
If you’d like more information, or would like to learn more about vacationing in Fort Myers Beach, be sure to visit our Web Site, or give us a call directly at (866) 218-1709.
Remember – it’s always beach time at Lahaina!
PS – Here’s a great resource for tracking the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:
Thank you!
Here’s recent news from the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce:
WHERE WE ARE CONCERNED: What if the affected waters reach the gulfstream? If this circumstance should occur, then the gulfstream will very likely accelerate the affected waters with oil all the way to the Keys. Under this scenario, the prevailing winds from the southwest will move the affected area can potentially (in some form) to our shoreline. The result could be either “tarballs” or oil.
NOTE: I am NOT trying to scare anyone as no one knows if the oil will reach waters in the gulfstream yet or not.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: If anyone can prove that business is being lost either now or as this calamity unfolds, you need to carefully document what has been lost. For example, if a hotel has cancellations then they should document precisely the key information. I would recommend (by common sense and not per any government agency) you document the date a reservation was made, proof of any payment, ask for and write down the reason(s) given for the cancellation, how many nights were cancelled, the rate quoted and accepted, the date of cancellation and any refunds.
WHAT IS NEXT: Wednesday is likely to be an important day. The reports due out should give a higher probability of what to expect from this disaster. The likelihood(s) of what areas will become affected will be better known on Wednesday (of course the caveat of “no guarantees” was given).
FINALLY: I have requested a meeting as soon as early next week to be led by the Emergency Operations Center, with other agencies involved with this matter, to have a face-to-face meeting with our business owners on what is happening as well as what everyone should prepare to do. I was asked to hold off until the Wednesday reports.
