The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 177

For more area coverage see Regional News Section he 5 4 4Pa Section TC Friday September 28 1984 The Miami Herald ri Isidr Treasure Coast is SfaLS I 3 i tit Storm more a nuisance than menace Minor flooding damage reported 74i "4' 1 2 -7- -e4' 7 14:: tt- -f 144''''''' -'-4: 02-: A (7:1: 4cN41 -4 110 1 1': 4 '4 :4 4 A Is 7 4-t1- -I :4 x'- 4 :44 if It i2( 74- 12 Ih a' -4-u AA4' F-3 47P tpw It Ai '7-lk -7'' la -77t 5 --f-- -4 Turtles destroyed I 2TC 4441 4411 7t14-'17 By NANCY LAUGHLIN Herald Staff Writer All through the rainy windy night 240 Martin County firefighters stood by like soldiers waiting for the landing of Tropical Storm Isidore The only call to arms was a false fire alarm at the Elliott Museum Red Cross volunteers with cots blankets and urns of coffee waited 15 hours for storm refugees to flood into an evacuation shelter at Stuart Middle School No one showed up The shelter was closed at 9 am Thursday for lack of interest Workers at the Florida Power Light Co's nuclear power plants on Hutchinson Island braved high swells to pull an expensive I600-foot net from the sea that had been keeping jellyfish from clogging its cooling canals The net will have to be set again as soon as the wind dies down The cause of all the work Tropical Storm Isidore teased taunted and tried tempers on the Treasure Coast late Wednesday and Thursday then flitted inland her treacherous potential unfulfilled "We were ready for it and expected the worst but the worst never came" said Mike Tracy a Port St Lucie engineering A it 7 -1r -1e i el 'z' ''t'' 4'" I l' z4 X- 141' 1 '4' ''''1 0 3 4 e) 4 4-: t- 1-4 AN 4 e- i lx 1 41 144 3 7 j10 '6' -VC e)'4' '-t 4o i 415 1: 10 Z' gi 6i: 40 7 i 1 ogiat- y' -t 1 041 1 1:4 A i 4:: 14- 4411' 1 1 4 0 '''''X' t' 4 4 4 3 br ''''4 :404 -z4 tt 4: i'- -4 le 4 :4:: -T' '44P4v 1::: 46e' 4'41'''' -f 5'' 44: ''''f A 24:: 7F: ''''s(tS' OT 17A '4-: 4 to 7:: '4-! ::4" :4 :::::4:: i''' '-'4'! 4- 47' ::::4: Ai 'X 1 'Z 1 I 4: ::1::: 4 0 4 'Kii :4 :4 ::4: 4 54-v e' :0: tl ''''''-P'4: "40 1: is" 0 ::1: 4: ::::54::::: r45 1 l''''' '3 1 ''''''''''i 4 JON KRAL I Miami Herald Staff Earl Swiniee and Red Smith try walking along the South Jetty at Fort Pierce Inlet as waves crash against the rocks litt 11 tle harrn to boats lustery Isi ore oes -r Ir- '14 retrrrntr14 i 4 c- 1P 4-' 4-: t20 'L'u'''' 4rr' 4 -4 45: N' z-4'''11'1 S- 7'r Ir: Ii'' 0 I 4 'z x10rlor4q'itsi9 i)4 4 'il '''1) '0'44' 4 1 i --44r :11 i 1 ilr: 0211:: '1 :411 11' 1 t-k 1 t2 4 1 '-'4' 1 elt 41'k IL A tki '''j tktooqo'-'-e i i 1 i 7 it '''1--NL-A le ow 1 4 c4: i I 1 4i 1 --vt rrt- '''''444i 0-- te- ----0: i 4'- 1 1 :7 41 --1 ii---' 1 1 f--4 I 'In -Y r'1 4r -P 'J'imr 'Ite': 41 i'l r' '41 7: -4' 4 i044t' l' 4'-i'' 44 I '4': I'4 1: li Alit 1: -P441ii 4 1 lil if 4241 1 I 1 Le I' --0 1 1 14 2 4 5 1 1tiozi 1 i- ki 4-vw 4 :40 '144: 4iiil x4 6 4 4i A ok-A 4 -4 At -1 lf 1 e' 43 5" 'pl 4(t e36101? i Cs 1 v-- i 'As A 1 :4 Srt 1' 1' 34492- 1 f-- 4:0 -q 41i 144 1 -t 4 4 1- t4 1 :7::::: 0 10o-g-g74-4---- 4---t 4 4: 4 r--! 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Je--- -'0-- 4 3-yd 1-- 4 2- -4 l'i A w'rlf -'OS "-z-44'- ''')''tie '0' f''' 14-- eNdr- --'4'-'''''eo-- ira''' i Schools closed Isidore's menacing presence forced Indian River County to send school students home early and prompted that county and Martin and St Lucie counties to cancel after-school activities The storm meandered away from the Treasure Coast in the late afternoon after dumping about two inches of rain on the area and shearing a few tree limbs and power lines In its wake it left scattered power failures hundreds of turtle nests destroyed beach-fronts along Hutchinson Island eroded but no significant property damage While Isidore was a worrisome nuisance to most Treasure Coast residents at least one group of folks found a silver lining in the tropical storm The US Coast Guard in Fort Pierce launched two 40-foot surf boats about 8 am Thursday so that a dozen crew members could practice towing and rescue techniques "It's an excellent time for us" said Petty Officer Ken Sutherland "We're taking full advantage of it If the weather is nasty tomorrow we'll be out there again" St Lucie County In Fort Pierce spectators crowding South Beach Jetty Park to gawk at the 5-foot-high waves forced the city to close the inlet park "I just felt for their health and safety it should be closed" said City Engineer Vince Mane Ila who visited the recently renovated park several times Thursday The high tides and winds combined to force water over State Road AIA in some low spots on South Beach "I think we're going to have some significant erosion problems there' Mane ila said Winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour kept Fort Pierce Utilities Authority and FPL crews busy repairing downed lines "We've got all our crews out" said FPL spokesnan Gene VanCuren Port St Lucie City Hall employ Please turn to STORM I 2TC By JAN FOGT Special to The Herald Timing its arrivals at each port with highest tides Tropical Storm Isidore caught many Treasure Coast boaters by surprise but caused little marine damage "The worse thing about this storm was the tides" said Stuart charter boat captain Jack Whiticar "This high a tide can really cause some damage if you don't allow for it" Most boaters had decided against moving their vessels to safer harbors after forecasters Wednesday predicted a westerly path for Isidore across Dade and Broward counties At Summit Landings a popular Sebastian waterfront bar and restaurant Penny King admitted the force of the blow caupht marina officials off-guard "We were monitoring marine for on the VHF and didn't expect the wir1 so strong" Boatyard supervisor Larry Pate said yard workers managed to get the Bimini tops and canvas off boats docked at the marina and to double the spring lines that prevent boats from being bashed into pilings At its worst in Sebastian at 2 pm Thursday Isidore was blowing a steady 40 knots and gusting to 50 knots said Pate throwing 4- to 5-foot seas against the outside dock Even as wind-driven seas danced in the widest part of the Indian River a dozen diners were eating lunch at the open-air restaurant A 50-foot class sailboat battling its way through 5-foot seas in the Indian River near Vero Beach ran aground shortly after noon The sailboat was making its way to the Vero Marine Center when it heeled over on a sandbar Marina spokesman Gene Brattain who worked until 1 1 pm Wednesday lifting 30 small boats out of the water and onto the safety of bank said the sailboat was heeled over on its side but in no real danger "We'll try to get her off but it may take the Coast Guard" he said adding that the average depth where the sailboat went aground on the north side just west of CAROL POWERS I Miami Herald Staff Russell Andersen Vero Beach city worker looks at erosion caused by storm at the Ocean Grill restaurant without having to go offshore Winds at Fort Pierce during the worst of the storm which hit at high tide at 11:30 am were estimated at 30 knots While lines stayed tight and boats safe at Pelican Yacht Club marina workers at Fort Pierce City Marina had their hands full as Isidore's arrival at high tide brought the water up within three inches of the high tide in Hurricane David Marina manager Morris Adger said Isidore surprised him "We had some pretty good winds I'd day gusts to 60 mph and the Barber Bridge is about four to five feet He figured the sailboat draws about seven feet of water Meanwhile at the Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce with no calls for search and rescue missions and no "real problems" Operations Officer Ken Sutherland took advantage of the bad weather to call a practice training session in the rough water "We practiced our man-overboard procedures and docking operations in the river" said Sutherland who added that the river was rough enough for a good simulation with strong east winds and the seasonal high tides the water piled in here from the Inlet" Several sportfishing boats with towers stored under the fixed overhead cover did come close to being damaged Adger said one sailboat working In the wind did take a piling with it The boat was secured with no damage he said At Stuart charter skippers were taking no chances with Isidore tying the boats off from both sides of the creeks in the Martin County area St Lucie's unemployment rate 2nd in state Indian River 10th Property tax rate will increase by 66 over the last fiscal year Martin approves $36 million budget That compares to an unemployment rate of 67 percent in July for Martin County and 93 percent last August "St Lucie County is always a little high and we attribute it to seasonal work that is the mainstay tourism and agriculture and both of those are not busy to any extent" said Gwenda Thompson supervisor of the Jobs Service of Florida office in St Lucie County which calculates the employment rates Florida posted an unemployment rate of 63 percent in August while the national rate stood at 75 percent Indian River County ranked 10th with 3465 unemployed out of 31826 people in the labor force for a rate of 109 percent In July Indian River County had a 125 percent unemployment rate and last August 182 percent of the workforce were without jobs Keeping with the traditional Treasure Coast employment pattern Martin County had the lowest unemployment rate in the area with 52 percent making It 47th among the state's 67 counties Only 1710 persons out of a total labor force of 32831 people were out of work in August in Martin County By GAIL DeGEORGE Herald Start Writer FORT PIERCE St Lucie County racked up the second highest unemployment rate in Florida in August with 166 percent of its workforce out of jobs In St Lucie County 7231 members of the labor force out of a total of 43519 were out of work In August second only to Glades County with an 189 percent unemployment rate But that fig ure is down from July when St Lucie County had an unemployment rate of 18 percent and last August when the county reported a 199 percent rate STUART The Martin County Commission Wednesday approved a $36 million 1984-85 budget calling for a property tax of $316 per $1000 of taxable valuation a 66 percent increase in the rate over the last fiscal year The 1984-85 budget is an increase of about $12 million over last fiscal year and includes $56000 for a new county Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation and a pay plan permitting salary hikes up to 5 percent for county employees About $12 million of the budget will be generated by $303 million in new property tax valuations $176 million in reassessments of property and $127 million in assessments of new construction Commissioners approved a property tax levy of $316 but homeowners will see a higher tax levy on their property tax bill because of millage rates for beach bond debt service and for fire and recreation services for each special taxing district The new natural resources department narrow ly escaped being slashed from the budget by a 3-2 commission vote The pay plan drafted by the consulting firm of Cody Associates will upgrade the job classifications of most county employees calling for average salary increases of 2 to 3 percent 1 0.