It was two years ago today that Hurricane Wilma ripped through Florida, in what turned out to be a hurricane season for the record books.
Everyone has a story from this storm… about how their power went out, their roof tops were torn off, their fences blew away and their lives were disorganized by this late-season storm.
The stories of blue-tarps, long gas lines and the lack of contractors were endless. Thankfully it cooled off after the storm…decreasing our need for the ever-important air conditioning!
Wilma rolled out of the area just as fast as she rolled in…this after days of meandering in the NW Caribbean sea, lashing the Yucatan Peninsula. Waiting to see what would happen with this storm, as a meteorologist, was an eternity. Days upon days of National Hurricane Center advisories, computer model runs, historical data, speculation, forecasting and just flat out waiting. It was gruesome. Then, it happened.
Early that Monday morning Wilma busted into Cape Romano, FL as a major hurricane
(cat. 3)…racing with fast upper-level winds across the interior, lifting northeast and leaving Broward and Miami-Dade counties with wicked winds and lashing rain bands. I will never forget being on the air that morning while covering this hurricane… looking out the window just waiting for satellite dishes to launch off their bases…looking at the radar and watching the eye of the storm draw closer…and watching the delicate studio lights swing overhead thanks to the force of nature outside. It was eerie.
But perhaps the worst part for me was listening to viewers (turned listeners on 87.7 FM and our radio partners) calling in to report conditions in their neighborhoods. People were scared. Everyone was concerned. And then…it was over. The sun came out. The clean-up began.
Two years later there are STILL homes with blue tarps protecting their rooftops.
Two years later there are STILL visible signs that “Wilma was here.”
That said, two years later there are thousands of new residents…and the education process continues. The education to get people to understand the threat of hurricanes and the need to prepare.
Thankfully this season is almost over and it has gone without incident…this time.
