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.[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.
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