CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The disaster in the Gulf is far from our coast, but it's hitting close to home for a lot of Carolinians.
Beach vacations and even some local businesses are taking a hit because of the unprecedented oil slick.
"When it first started happening I was like, 'Oh man, it's not going to be good," said Joe Gaydeski who runs Open Water Adventures dive shop in Charlotte.
Gaydeski is closely watching the oil in the Gulf because he refers customers there and takes some locals there on trips. But he says he likely won't be heading to the Panhandle anytime soon.
"It's disconcerting," said Gaydeski. "There's still an entire planet to enjoy. We might have to shift plans and change trips around until they get everything cleaned up."
There are lots of people from our area changing plans.
"That will certainly change the vacation if we can't be on the beach," Susan King said.
She runs a Charlotte furniture store and is headed to Pensacola in August. She is worried, but definitely going because it's her mother-in-law's birthday. But she admits it may not be the vacation she planned.
"My kids love the beach and it'll be tough to be at the beach and not be on the beach if the sands are covered with oil and it's not safe for my children," King said.
So many people are changing plans BP is now paying for commercials promoting tourism in Mississippi and Florida, and in some cases paying for business lost.
"Some of the dive centers are actually getting checks from BP for interruption of business," Gaydeski said.
But there's not much BP can do for the King family.
"Swimming at the pool is not going to be near the same as making sandcastles and playing in the water," King said.
If you're planning a vacation anywhere along the Gulf Coast, call ahead because the oil has come ashore in some places and not others. Some computer models show the oil coming to the East Coast later this summer.
