Home>News Center>World
         
 

Wilma kills 6 in Florida; 6 million without power
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-25 09:10

"Everything is put on hold," said Carrie Carlton, 29, a medical assistant who waited in line for the one working pay phone at a Fort Lauderdale convenience store. "What's really frustrating is you can't get in touch with anyone, either. ... People are hungry, and when you get hungry, you get" angry.

In Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Miami Beach, countless windows were blown out of high-rises. Along downtown Miami's Brickell Avenue, broken glass from skyscrapers littered streets and sidewalks. Broken water mains in the Fort Lauderdale area prompted advisories to boil water, and a ruptured main in downtown Miami sprayed water 15 feet in the air.

Bruce Minton (R), daughter Leah, and dog Molly ride their swamp buggy through the completely flooded town of Everglades City, Florida after Hurricane Wilma hit October 24, 2005.
Bruce Minton (R), daughter Leah, and dog Molly ride their swamp buggy through the completely flooded town of Everglades City, Florida after Hurricane Wilma hit October 24, 2005.[Reuters]
The Broward County Courthouse and the 14-story school board office complex looked like bombed-out buildings. All three of South Florida's major airports — Miami International, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Palm Beach — were closed at least until Tuesday.

The Miami Police Department building lost some letters on its sign.

"It was a wild and crazy night," Lt. Bill Schwartz said. "This building, built in 1976, shook like it was 1876."

In Weston, near Fort Lauderdale, Kim DuBois sat in her darkened house with her two children and husband, with the only light coming from the battery-powered pumpkin lantern they bought for Halloween.

"I could hear tiles coming off the roof," she said. "There are trees on cars and flooding at the end of our street."

In the snowbird enclave Marco Island, where only about 3,000 of the 15,000 residents were believed to have stayed for the storm, the streets were littered with damaged street signs, roofing shingles, awnings and fences.

The storm impressed even amateur hurricane chaser Josh Morgerman. A marketing executive from Los Angeles, Morgerman flew to Tampa on Saturday to meet the storm, left Naples as the eye passed and drove to Everglades City.
Page: 1234



Hurricane Wilma batters Florida
All 117 feared dead in Nigerian plane crash
Quake relief inadequate, UN says
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Bird flu: Beijing demands rapid response

 

   
 

President Hu to visit North Korea this week

 

   
 

China textile exports up, but impact limited

 

   
 

Foreigners busted in illegal forex dealings

 

   
 

Law aims to keep unsafe food off the table

 

   
 

Journalists' hotel in Baghdad attacked

 

   
  Journalists' hotel in Baghdad attacked
   
  Syrians protest Hariri report en masse
   
  Wilma hammers Florida mainland
   
  Britain: Bird flu is deadly H5N1 strain
   
  Nigeria mourns plane crash victims
   
  Israel drops bid for Hamas election ban
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Hurricane Wilma's waves crash into Havana
   
Looting breaks out in Mexico after Wilma
   
Wilma threatens Florida with 110-mph winds
   
Hurricane Wilma tears into Mexican resorts
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement