Key West Evacuating, But Not The Homeless

(Key West, Florida) Previously, this blog has discussed the generous benefits afforded vagrants in Key West and many homeless have taken up residence in "safe zone sleeping areas" built earlier this year. The city offers showers, laundry facilities, and other amenities to keep vagrants out of the city parks and off the beaches. Besides the expense and the fact that more and more homeless continually arrive in Key West, a real problem the city is faced with today is what to do with the homeless population when the entire population of the city has been told to evacuate due to Hurricane Ivan.

Well, it appears that some have piled into aging vehicles and left, but those remaining are apparently expected to fend for themselves when Hurricane Ivan hits the island.

There were no plans as of Thursday for Monroe County to evacuate people via buses, Key West city officials said during a noon meeting. There are no Category 4 or 5 hurricane shelters in the Keys that are open to the public.

[ ... ]

[Assistant City Manager John] Jones told his fellow department heads at the noon meeting that the safe zone was being shut down and the county was not providing transportation for the safe zone residents.

If the people of Key West are as compassionate as they often portray, they'll find some shelter for the remaining homeless. It's guaranteed that they won't be able to survive the elements when Hurricane Ivan blows in.