Post-Wilma Update

Wow. What a ride. Wilma hit Floirda as a category 3 storm, with winds of something like 120 mph.

Now to compare my prediction with what happened. My prediction is recorded in this blog, just go back 5 or 6 days and read it.

WHAT I SAID:

1. Wilma would make landfall at Naples as a cat 2 or 3 storm
2. It would trek in a diagonal manner across the state, with the eye staying south of the big lake.
3. Miami-Dade county would get some stuff, with the worst being in Broward and Palm Beach.
4. Nice cool weather would follow the storm

WHAT HAPPENED:

1. Wilma made landfall 20 miles south on Naples.
2. It hit as a category 3
3. Miami-Dade County recorded category three conditions, but there was more damage in Broward than in Dade.
4. Nice cool weather followed the storm

TAKE THAT HURRICANE CENTER! All your tracks pulling the storm to the north (that I scoffed at and made fun of) were wrong. At work, for my divisions internal purposes, I narrowed the cone of death to about 1/3 the size of the published track.

Now for work. Miami International Airport got clobbered. Many of the jet loading bridges were damaged. The outer security fence had a bunch of holes in it. Air navigation systems (radio beacons and such) were damaged. During the storm I was told not to report to work, but I did report the next day at 0400.

It was pretty cool. 1/2 the power to the main building was out. The airport was operating on emergency generators. Only employees were in the main building. Anybody with a ticket trying to catch a flight was swept out of the airport and bussed somewhere else. The airport was totally empty. It was strange.

As for me, I am fine. No major property damage. Katrina already took care of my trees. Wilma did damage a wooden shed in the backyard, but the shed was in poor repair before the storm. My radio antennas are gone. But I had power back within 12 hours of the end of the storm. I just got my DSL back today.

The cold front behind Wilma is super nice. I have yet to turn the AC back on. Right now, nobody in South Floirda needs AC, just open some windows.

I am going to drive around and take some photos today. Stay tuned!