By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

KEY WEST | After announcing that Sept. 5 would be the last day at the Basilica School before Hurricane Irma’s arrival, the principal was torn over whether to evacuate. He saw Irma's shifting pattern, and he knew it would be hard to return after the storm. Yet he knew its ferocious strength.

Robert Wright reluctantly left town on Friday of that week. He drove Overseas Highway toward the Florida mainland, braving 50-mph winds, to join his wife and five children, who had evacuated to a relative’s home in Lakeland in Central Florida. Wright’s wife Jessica is a sixth-generation Conch, or Key West native.

"I had at first decided to stay and ride it out," said Wright, principal of the school since 2013. "[But] after dozens of phone calls and emails pressuring me to leave, I drove overnight to Lakeland."

With some 300 students, most of whom evacuated with their families in advance of Hurricane Irma, the Basilica School has been educating Key West children since 1868. The school has Pre-K3 through eighth grade students and stands next to the Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea, in the heart of Key West.

Wright's fears about returning were well-founded: Traffic to the lower Keys has been closed since the hurricane. Ironically, though, Hurricane Irma’s path shifted somewhat more inland, knocking out power in Lakeland, where Wright and 10 family members huddled in a duplex for several days.

Trying to find a way back, finally found a friend who works with a humanitarian aviation agency in Lakeland called Aero Bridge, which was flying post-hurricane relief and supplies to Summerland Key, near Key West. (The main airport in Key West was open only to military and governmental traffic at the time.)

He learned about the flight on the night of Sept. 13, and, leaving his family in Lakeland, he boarded the flight the next morning along with his 120-pound dog and a couple of cases of Gatorade.

"It was a humbling sight to fly over the Middle Keys around Marathon, seeing the devastation," Wright said. "I got into Key West, and my first order of business was to find fuel for my car."

Wright found gas at a marina where his family keeps a boat. He also procured some drinking water, then set out for Basilica School. He spent six hours doing a full damage assessment, and spoke to the insurance adjusters and Miami archdiocesan staff working on a clean-up plan.

He contracted with a local company to begin the cleanup process beginning this coming Monday. His ambitious target plans for a full school reopening on Sept. 25.

Meanwhile, the school is operating a half-day schedule of free daycare for area youngsters whose families didn’t evacuate and who need a safe place for their children while they recover from the storm. An estimated 8,000 residents remained behind.

"My goal is to open up the school as soon as possible, and I think that is one of the first things a community needs to return to a sense of normalcy," Wright said.

But he said Key West is not ready for an immediate, rapid return of residents, and that water is currently being rationed at four hours a day daily. Cellphone service has only recently been restored, electricity remains out and gasoline is in short supply.

Wright has also been visiting members of his staff, faculty and student families who are busy cleaning up homes. His own house suffered some minor damage, and he has asked his family to stay in Central Florida until conditions improve.

Meanwhile, he said, Key West has been transformed from a beautiful resort to a beautiful state of neighbor helping neighbor, as restaurants offer free food to locals and people pitch in to clean up the island.

"It’s really is neat to see people dig deep and start to serve others," he said. "Amidst the chaos there is great charity at work. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself in a bad situation. But when you see the generosity and care of neighbors, it's a very pleasant feeling, and it takes your mind off the road ahead."

It will be months, even years, before the island returns to what it once was, and the roofing repairs will be quite intense, Wright said. Locals point out that 2005’s Hurricane Wilma actually brought Key West more catastrophic flooding than Irma, which will be remembered here for its Category 4 winds.

"I have families asking how long this will take and wondering should they enroll elsewhere," Wright said. He believes the city of Key West in general will lose some students as their families relocate after suffering heavy damage to their homes.

Many of the faculty and staff of Basilica School, however, are waiting for the Key West airport to open to commercial flights in order to return. The school has its own water wells, which are now functioning again.

"It's important to focus on the beauty of charity and progress that these moments bring out," Wright said. "The charm of the island has shifted from palm trees and tiki huts to the beauty of people serving one another.’

Earlier this year, Basilica School broke ground for an activity center. Plans call for a 14,300-square-foot multi-use facility with several classrooms, one of Monroe county’s largest gymnasiums, and a kitchen and dining area.

The estimated $2.9 million project will also house other parish and community ministries, such as the Knights of Columbus.

"The island is still here and the spirit is still alive," Wright said. "Although we have taken a good hit, I don’t think we suffered the full brunt of the storm, and it has not taken away our will to serve God."

Corrected: The original article mentioned Marathon Key. It should have read only Marathon,  a city in the middle of the Florida Keys, specifically Knight's Key, Boot Key, Key Vaca, Fat Deer Key, Long Point Key, Crawl Key and Grassy Key islands.