My First Disaster Area: South Florida

In case you were wondering, I am alive. And in case you were wondering, yes, I was indeed in the path of Hurricane Wilma. EVERYONE in south Florida was in the storm's path. And in case you were wondering what happened...well...

This place is seriously fucked up.

I didn't bother to evacuate simply because the storm was coming from the gulf (not the ocean), and since it was hitting all of us it wouldn't really make a difference one way or another. My place had some water start to leak in through the balcony doors, but I quickly put a stop to that. Otherwise, the place is fine. My DirecTV dish, contrary to the lies propagated by the cable companies, stood firm and hardcore all the way through the storm. My immediate neighborhood was left pretty intact.

But the next day, I went out with my neighbor Angela to get supplies. And that's when we found out just how bad this storm was.

There were downed trees everywhere. Houses partially smashed. Cars smashed by branches. Lampposts and traffic lights fallen into roadways. One road had an entire row of power poles bent 45 degrees towards the road. I hope to have a chance to take some pictures.

We looked in vain for ice. A few stores were open -- mostly small liquor and convenience stores. Nothing else. NOBODY had power. in fact, 98% of South Florida -- across 3 counties -- got their power knocked out. That's 3.2 MILLION people, for those keeping score at home. No traffic lights were working, which made driving perilous. After all, Florida drivers blow even when there are working traffic signals.

Then we found a grocery store that actually took credit cards. It was a mob scene. We gathered up as many non-perishables as we wanted; I had plenty of bottled water, but not enough food for comfort. It wasn't the best neighborhood, and we had heard reports of looting taking place not far from there. Of course, if the people were white, it would have been called 'finding'.

Anyway, we got our shit, came back to the building, got drunk and went to sleep. What else is there to do in the dark? Her roommates and I had no board games, so we had to play charades and what not. Needless to say, work was cancelled Monday, Tuesday and tomorrow. My office has no power.

Right now, I am at Carla and Michael's apartment. They are in Brickell, a downtown neighborhood basically in the financial district. As such, they were one of the first neighborhoods to get power back - it came back today at 10 a.m. I lost power during the storm on Monday and no, it's not back on yet. Not even close. But they've got power, and Internet. Believe it or not, I am actually getting some work done.

I'll try to keep you posted on the goings-on here when I have time. Though it was 'only' a Category 3, Wilma may end up being the most destructive storm in Florida's history -- even worse than Andrew in 1992. The damage was more widespread than any before it.

One more thing: I've said in the past that these things always seem worse to people outside Florida than they do to people who actually live here. This was an exception to the rule. But please, spare me the stupid question "Why would anybody live there?"

When you find yourself asking that question, keep in mind that this year is an anomaly. Before this year, Florida would have one 'big-time' storm every 2 years. Also keep in mind that prior to Wilma, Andrew had been by far the most destructive storm in FL history -- and it basically leveled one focused rural area. This year there have been several severe hurricanes, and this is simply not normal. Bottom line: more often the not, the weather here beats the weather almost anyplace else, and the inconvenience of battening down the hatches once every two years seemed like a fair trade. Unfortunately, this year will probably cause a lot of Florida residents to change their minds about that assessment.

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