Hurricane Wilma Cuts Off the Florida Keys

Hurricane Wilma roared across southern Florida Monday as a Category 2 storm, leaving behind a huge swath of destruction and flooding before picking up strength again. At least 3.2 million homes and businesses lost power in the storm, and at least one death has been reported. And each island in the Florida Keys is now cut off from the rest of the world, with the only highway connecting the islands to each other and the mainland completely flooded. An assistant to the mayor said that 35% of the city is flooded, including the airport, and power has been knocked out to the entire island chain. One resident said, "All the streets are rivers." Another resident said that the water in the street in front of his home rose from 6 inches to 5 feet deep in the span of less than an hour, leaving his new Porsche Boxster submerged to its roof.

Most of the residents of the Keys ignored evacuation orders issued ahead of Hurricane Wilma. Although the county sheriff’s office was disappointed that residents did not evacuate, many people felt that weather people had cried wolf too many times before, so they figured this was another over-exaggeration. On Sunday afternoon, many people gathered on a concrete pier that stretches out about 200 yards into the water. As tremendous waves crashed over the concrete, some people stood near the end and let the water splash over them while surfers took advantage of the powerful waves. Monroe County emergency management director Billy Wagner said that only about 20% of the 78,000 residents of the Florida Keys evacuated, and he thinks the people who did not obey the mandatory evacuation order are going to be in deep trouble. Many residents who rode out the storm have acknowledged that they should have left when they had the chance to.

Southwest Florida was devastated last year by Hurricane Charley, which killed 10 people and caused an estimated $15 billion damage. Some houses in the area were still boarded up when Hurricane Wilma barreled through, and others had just finished rebuilding. On Sunday, Gov. Jeb Bush asked for 14 counties in southern Florida to be declared major disaster areas. An estimated 160,000 residents were told to evacuate over the weekend as the storm approached. The hurricane came ashore early Monday morning just south of Marco Island, making it Florida’s eighth hurricane in just 15 months.

David Paulison, the acting head of the Federal Emergency management Agency, said that his people are "ready to go" once the worst of the storm finishes passing through Florida. FEMA personnel are waiting in shelters for the winds to die down before emerging to assess damages and begin cleanup efforts. More than 22,600 people are waiting in shelters across the state, and truckloads of tarps and meals are being gathered together. Over 3,000 National Guard soldiers are standing by, with 425 tractor-trailers filled with ice and water are ready to be deployed to areas hardest hit by the storm.

The National Hurricane Center says that Wilma is still a powerful Category 3 storm with sustained 120 mph winds. Forecasters expect it to plow up alongside the Atlantic Seaboard and reach the coast of Canada by Wednesday. Although it is expected to stay largely offshore, it will absorb the much smaller Tropical Depression Alpha and collide with another weather system heading toward the northeast from the west. The result will likely be a powerful nor’easter that will assault Massachusetts with high winds and rain as early as Tuesday morning.