ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. -- The phones were ringing non-stop today at Coastal Realty.
Employees could barely finish one conversation before another line would light up. "It's snowbird season," one woman explained to a caller.
Devon Sherno, Coastal Realty rental manager, said many people wanted to check-in early or extend their vacations because of the constant barrage of snowstorms in the Northeast and Midwest.
The company had some vacancies left, but many of its vacation units were booked well in advance. "The Feb. 1 check-ins were scrambling to get down here early," Sherno said.
"As soon as the snow flies up there, the phones start ringing, 'Oh, what do you have? I gotta get down there. I gotta get out of the snow,'" said Sherno.
Visitors Boris and Pat Homenock extended their vacation today after learning conditions between St. Augustine and their home in Illinois were not ideal for a return trip.