HILTON HEAD ISLAND (AP) -- Hotel clerks along the Gulf Coast are busy answering calls about a massive oil spill and whether they will refund the money of vacationers who have booked rooms there. The answer is typically no.
Phones are also steadily ringing for tourism officials hundreds of miles away at Atlantic Coast beaches like Hilton Head Island, S.C., as they delicately try to lure vacationers away without appearing to profit from the disaster.
Millions of gallons of oil have spewed from a well at the ocean floor since an offshore drilling rig exploded in the Gulf on April 20. Balls of tar began washing up on an Alabama beach over the weekend.
Vacationers who have already booked are tracking the spill online, and many have been told they'll face a steep penalty for backing out.
Related Stories:
Sen. Graham says 'impossible' to pass climate bill now - Friday, May 07, 2010
Sen. Lindsey Graham says it's "become impossible" to pass climate change legislation now.
Business slips as slick nears Gulf shore - Thursday, May 06, 2010
One bait shop may have the best prices around, but what they don't have is many takers these days.
Lawmakers still in favor of offshore drilling - Thursday, May 06, 2010The images of the spill have done little in the way of changing the positions of SC’s GOP gubernatorial candidates when it comes to offshore drilling.
If the oil spill does make it to our coast, who would be responsible for containing it and do they have a plan in place?
A Coast Guard cutter based in South Carolina has been diverted to help clean the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s still too early to predict exactly how the oil spill will affect the state’s shrimp season, but it could mean more cash in the pockets of shrimpers.
The environmental and economic impacts of the massive spill off the Gulf Coast are potentially disastrous as the oil spreads. Its reach could stretch nationwide and we could feel the wrath right here in the Midlands.
Midlands seafood unaffected by oil spill, worst to come - Tuesday, May 04, 2010
The impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to reach the Midlands according to various restaurants and stores. However, Palmetto Seafood Company off of Gervais Street is preparing for some rough water ahead.
SC facility expects to treat oiled birds from Gulf - Monday, May 03, 2010
The Center for Birds of Prey on the South Carolina coast is standing by to treat birds coated with oil from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)