Hurricane Irene: Many Stay for the Storm in Ocean City

The streets of Ocean City were mostly deserted on Saturday morning—about 12 hours after a mandatory deadline to evacuate the island before the arrival of Hurricane Irene.

But the island was hardly empty. Bicyclists and joggers traveled the Boardwalk on Saturday morning. Surfers took advantage of building swell. And inside , an eclectic crowd shared tables at one of two restaurants open on the island (along with the ).

The unlikely mix of refugees saw Councilman Keith Hartzell sitting next to manager Colin Devine. It included local attorney Sam Lavner (a Ready's regular), along with an assortment of locals and visitors.

Most said they would heed the evacuation order later that morning. Others said they would wait and see how the weather develops.

The crowd was a good representation of the challenges facing Ocean City emergency planners who are charged with keeping more than 100,000 residents and visitors safe—evacuating the island at the height of summer with about a day's notice.

In the end, the most effective enforcement tool available to public safety officials overseeing the evacuation was the threat of a powerful and potentially deadly hurricane. And the weather reports didn't cooperate—with reports showing a slight weakening of the storm from Category 2 (96 to 110 mph winds) to Category 1 (74 to 95 mph winds).

While the powerful storm's impact on Ocean City may not change, the news was enough to create a little doubt in some minds about the need to evacuate.

Property owner Vic Staniec said Saturday morning he was able to batten down six rental properties but hadn't found time to secure his own. He was trying to find a way to keep equipment dry in a ground-level garage on Third Street.

Staniec also said he anticipates good weather on the other side of the hurricane—and the need to clean up his properties for renters anxious to start vacations delayed by the storm.

Others, such as Sue Reich, who lives at First Street and Asbury Avenue, said they would likely evacuate. But exactly when, they weren't sure.

Tom Ashley, on the other hand, said he planned to stay at his St. James Place home through the storm. He left his car on the 10th story of a parking garage at work in Atlantic City, left his motorcycle on the mainland and was prepared to stay overnight.

Ashley had surfed on Friday night in great conditions and was walking the Boardwalk on Saturday morning.

While said he was not taking the hurricane storm lightly, he called the isolation and calm before the storm one of the "privileges" of living in Ocean City.

Ocean City Beach Patrol lieutenants Jeff Garbutt and Brian Booth were driving a truck down the beach, chasing surfers out of the water on their way to 12th Street headquarters.

On the streets, a small number of cars traveled freely around town. The south end of the island was largely deserted. The bay side streets remained dry at low tide near noon.

And as the morning wore on and the wind and rain picked up, the outbound lanes of the Route 52 causeway saw a predictable increase in traffic.