Well, as you probably already know, Wilma thrashed downtown Ft Lauderdale. So far, we've gotten most of our information online from Sun Sentinel, our local newspaper. It's been hard for us reading about all of the damage to buildings we know are within blocks of our new home: the financial district, the hospital, the Bank of America building, shops on Las Olas, etc. The other bad thing is that we were able to confirm with a friend today that these reports are true. It's such a mess right now, our laid-back friend, Glenn is thinking of leaving the area for a few days, if he can leave.
It seems that even the newer buildings (built after Andrew in 1992) lost windows and suffered other damage. Speculation is that gravel rocks from roofing surfaces of older buildings became flying debris (think shotgun bullets) and that there might have been a "tunneling" effect from the winds ripping between all the high rises.
The Good News: we spoke with our Condo Management Office today and were told that our building remains unscathed! They even had power back on, so the elevators were running. I guess this is a benefit for being near the financial and government districts, considering 97% of the county is still without power. Our condo residents are still waiting for water, though.
But we are still anxious to reach our friends. We weren't able to reach many today. Even contacting Glenn took quite some time ("circuits were busy") and there was poor reception. So, if our Kayuba friends and Boca ex-neighbors and friends read this...please let us know if you are ok when you get a chance. Phone or email. We're thinking of you.
1 comment:
Hey there traveling folk... Just a note to say Nat and I and the girls came through... spent the week up in Daytona since they had electic, gas, food, and all the luxuries you get used to. House took a little damage (as did most in our neighborhood), with roof tiles gone, fences down and trees all over the place but we still felt safe inside. The aftermath is almost worse than the storm with the depressing views of destruction, and long lines to get any basic necessity. We headed north after 3 days since it sounded like it could be weeks before power restored. The girls were troopers (having now been through 3 hurricanes). After a week, we've returned, thankful that the electic was restored to our place and that gas lines were down to 100 yards. Hope our other Kayubers are doing well.
Post a Comment