As the Miami New Times cover shows in this post’s photo, Wilma is not one of our favorites down here. In Miami, exactly one week after Hurricane Wilma hit, I am reflecting on what went well and what didn’t.

My power was restored on Thursday afternoon, and for that I am truly thankful. The weather has been absolutely beautiful, a huge stroke of luck for us. After Hurricane Katrina we were without power for 5 days, but the heat was utterly intolerable.

More current status in South Florida:
Curfew still in effect from about 11pm – 7am (depending on county)
Schools remain closed until Tuesday/Wednesday (depending on county)
900,000+ homes still without power
600,000+ homes still without telephone
Boil water still in effect for parts of Broward County

WHAT WORKED:

Power Restoration: Although there is still a long way to go, Florida Power & Light (FPL) was apparently uber-damaged by Wilma, grids, substations, you name it. These FPL workers go non-stop until everyone has power. Plus, thanks to lots and lots of workers from other power companies across the country, FPL has had additional hands and trucks to help get us back on track.

1-866-9-No-Scam: Thanks to this hotline, consumers can call in and report price gouging and other illegal practices. At a time when so many people are so vulnerable, this hotline has helped. People have been arrested and fined (one guy came into town and was selling boxes of $5 water for $10 and was arrested). I have to say, I really expected to see prices shoot up in the grocery store, but that’s apparently against the law and they didn’t.

Curfews: Each county put in a curfew immediately after the storm, and they are still in effect. Originally from about 8pm to 8am, the curfews were put in place because the streets are absolutely black at night, and debris is difficult to see. It’s also been a help with limiting looting and other criminal activity.

Transportation: The Metrorail was out of service due to damage & lack of electricity, so the county put buses in place to run the Metro line on the ground. Great idea!

Insurance Village: An Insurance Village was set-up to allow residents to come and talk to insurance representatives in person. In the days after the storm, it was tough to get the insurance companies on the phone. This way you could go and talk with your car & home insurance all at once, and in some cases, they cut reimbursement checks on the spot.

WHAT DIDN’T

Hurricane Tourism: I’ve got a couple of quejas with the residents of South Florida, and this is one of them. I know that it’s interesting to go out and see the destruction right after a hurricane. It’s shocking, and it’s also a reason to get out of the house that you’ve been pent up in. I even did it myself. But here’s the difference – I did it on foot. Please, people, if you need to go out after a storm and check everything out, walk around your neighborhood, do not get in your car! There are about a gazillion reasons for this: Emergency vehicles can’t get through, people trying to clean the streets get backed up in these traffic jams, and also – you are wasting your own gas. Something to think about for next time.

Gas Stations: Wow, never seen anything like this. People waiting 3-5 hours for gas, just for the station to run out of gas or power. There is talk that gas stations should all have big generators, since the main reason we can’t pump is that the station has no electricity. Part B: Here’s another beef with the people…why are you waiting for hours in a gas line with your car on? Don’t you realize that you are wasting your own gas? Also…where are you going? Almost everything is closed. Did you change your daily habits at all to try to conserve?

Resident Preparedness: When they tell us to prep for the hurricane, I think we do a little, but maybe not enough. Most of the times a storm comes through and it’s no big deal…but you prep for the big one. We need to do a better job at being prepared.

Supply Distribution: Ice & water centers were set up, approx. 10 in each county. If you don’t want people driving all over the place, and you want to be able to reach people that don’t have a form of transportation, then there needs to be a way to get supplies into more neighborhoods. There are some very poor areas of Miami that are almost isolated right now. They basically ran out of food and have no way to go get more – we need to get supplies into more areas. (And have more meals available.)

Nursing Homes Not On Power Priority List: When a city experiences a power outage such as this, the power company has a priority list that includes hospitals & schools, to get them back on-line first. This time, priorities were later changed to add gas stations & grocery stores (shopping in the dark is a very strange experience). Who’s not on the priority list? Nursing homes. These nursing homes, many without sufficient generators, were without power for far too long. If the weather had been hotter, this would have turned into an even bigger problem than it is now.

Low Supplies Milk/Bread: Grocery stores continuously were running out of bread and milk (including dry/canned). Our kids have got to have milk!

Boats/Houseboats Sinking: Numerous boats & houseboats are destroyed and sinking in the water. By law it is the owner’s responsibility to clean up the wreckage. But come on, how many owners are basically going to run out of money and just have to leave it where it is? In the meantime, how much garbage is leaking out into our oceans? Toxic materials? There has got to be a better solution for this.

Sadly…
Seems like no matter how many times you tell people, there is always at least one person that doesn’t understand. Generators can not be operated inside a home or on a balcony. At least one death has occurred due to a generator running indoors, because the family feared it would be stolen if left outside all night. Please be careful.

GOING TO TAKE A WHILE

Even though it probably won’t make national news anymore, it’s going to be a while before South Florida is completely back on it’s feet. Hopefully most people will have all of their services up and running within one more week – but it will be a while before the buildings open again and the streets will feel the same.