11月30日，当历史上灾害最为频繁的大西洋飓风季终于结束时，美国佛罗里达州基韦斯特岛上的人们举行了一个颇为盛大的庆祝仪式。仪式上，他们将红黑相间的飓风警示旗帜烧毁。

    据路透社12月1日报道，基韦斯特岛是位于美国佛罗里达州最南端外海上的一个旅游度假胜地，在今年10月份，威尔玛飓风使得该岛1.5万所住房中的3700所被淹，屋内水深达到了1英尺以上。同时，丹尼斯飓风、丽塔飓风以及卡特里娜飓风也都曾掠过这里。在今年的飓风季期间，一共产生了创纪录的26次热带风暴，其中有13次的强度逐步增加，最后演变成了飓风。

    为庆祝长达6个月的大西洋飓风季终于告一段落，岛上的人们纷纷聚集到海滩，召开了一次盛大的派对以及烧旗仪式。当天刮起的强风使人们试图用喷灯点燃旗帜的努力连续几次都没有成功，直到最后，一位负责处理紧急情况的官员将那些旗帜浸泡在朗姆酒里，才使这一问题得到解决。当地著名的说书人芬巴尔·吉特尔曼身着海盗服装，用螺号吹奏出沙哑而响亮的声音以纪念那些在飓风季中失去生命的人们。一支被称做“大气压力”的乐队在不停地唱着“这将是阳光灿烂的美好一天”，这是歌曲《现在我可以清晰洞察一切》中的一句歌词。

    Storm-weary residents on the Florida island of Key West celebrated the end of the busiest Atlantic hurricane season on record on Wednesday by ceremonially burning red and black hurricane warning flags.

    Stiff breezes thwarted repeated efforts to set the flags ablaze with a blowtorch until an emergency management official doused the flags with rum.

    Hurricane Wilma flooded about 3,700 of the island's 15,000 residences with a foot or more of water in October and the resort island off the southern tip of Florida was also brushed by Hurricanes Dennis, Rita and Katrina.

    Islanders gathered at the official end of the six-month Atlantic hurricane season for a beach party and flag-torching ceremony. Renowned local storyteller Finbar Gittelman, clad in a pirate's costume, blew a honking tribute on a conch shell to commemorate lives lost during the season that produced a record 26 tropical storms, 13 of which strengthened into hurricanes.

    A band dubbed "The Barometrics" sang, "It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day," lyrics from the song "I Can See Clearly Now."

    Some islanders were sober despite the merrymaking, mindful that meteorologists expect several more years of above-average hurricane activity.

    "I don't see any reason why next season will an easy season," said Matt Strahan, top meteorologist for Key West's National Weather Service. "This historic season was the strongest ever on record."

    "It's been traumatic. It's been hard," added Police Chief Bill Mauldin.