South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • 1

South Florida Broward Metro Edition Tuesday October 25, 2005 WWW.SUN-SENTINEL.COM 35 CMS Numerous roadways resemble debris fields 3:2 million customers Hurricane Wilma hit left without electricity with Category 2 force 1' ii 1 I 1 i ONLY RUBBLE IS LEFT: Zachary Brooks, 8, and his mother, Adrienne Brooks, stand near their neighbors' gutted trailer at Southwest 1 33rd Terrace and Sixth Street in Davie after it was slammed by Hurricane Wilma. The neighbors, a family of three, had left town to escape the storm. Staff photoRobert Mayer In Broward County, Wilma blew through as a Category 2 storm, with" gusts up to 120 mph, making it tf most powerful to hit the area in nearly half a century. Some of the hardest hjl places were government building! and landmarks, including the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, which remains closed todays the Broward County courthouse and the School Board building in down; town Fort Lauderdale. WILMA CONTINUES ON 16A they may not have power fully restored for another four weeks.

Due to the extensive damage, Broward and Miami-Dade counties remained under curfew until 7 this morning. "I said beforehand that I thought people would be unpleasantly surprised by the power of this storm, and I think they have been unpleasantly surprised," said Tony Carper, Broward's emergency management director. "This is the strongest hurricane to hit us in decades." ity of more counties to be added in coming days. In South Florida, what made Wilma unique was her wide wake, closing airports and causing nearly universal power outages and major destruction in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Traditionally, the counties have taken turns bearing the brunt of previous storms, with residents driving north or south to find alternative sources of power, shelter and gas.

this may now be impossible for some time, with officials warning but still were left gasping at Wilma's strength and reach, which could end up costing $10 billion in damage, more than any one of the four storms to hit the state last year. The hurricane came ashore 22 miles south of Naples as a Category 3 storm and buzzed across the state, the fifth Category 3 or higher storm to hit Florida in 19 months. President Bush declared Florida a major disaster area as of Monday afternoon, with Collier, Lee and Monroe counties qualifying for federal assistance and the possibil By Jamie malernee, ScottWyman and jean-paul renaud STAFF WRITERS Hurricane Wilma clobbered the entire southern half of the state Monday, killing seven people, causing heavy flooding in the Florida Keys, ripping off roofs from the west coast to the east, blasting out South Florida office high-rise windows, and creating one of the largest power outages in state history. Residents had a week to prepare 7 v'tTV BLOG: Insights on Wilma's aftermath from around Florida and around the Web IMAGES: Photo galleries from your neighborhood and all of South Florida UPDATES: Get the latest news at www.sun-sentinel.com 1 awayiffli CUBA Flooding hits Havana Storm surge pummels CubaS capital city when Wilma -X strikes the island nation. 22A LOCAL FPL slammed with outages With up to 3.2 million customers powerless, FPL is facing the largest power loss in the utility's history.

1 Cooler weather coming too If you're desperate for good news, or at least not-as-bad news: The weather should be cool and dry, with morning temps forecast to reach the low-to mid-40s far inland and the low 50s on the coast today. "It will be nice," said meteorologist Dan Gregoria. KEYS Luck runs out for island chain "I would say ifs probably the strongest storm to hit this island in 50 years," said Dave McGinnis, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Key West. 18A Wilma might cost $10 billion Insurance estimates start rolling in, with some putting the potential bill near $10 billion. If costs reach that level, Wilma will become the third costliest hurricane in U.S.

history. 1 FLORIDA Storm-weary but neighborly Even as stormfatigue drove some residents to slack on readiness, after the tempest, Columnist Ralph de la Cruz found South Floridians eager to help each other out. IB Predicting the path An early review by the National Hurricane Center found forecasts of the storm's path made 24 hours in advance were off by just 45 miles, busting the long-term average for accuracy. 17A Our neighbors, their words Scavengers sought blown-down scraps arid storm-sparked screenplay ideas flowed after Wilma tore through Broward County; Find out what our neighbors have to say about what they saw after the storm. 4B Whafs open, whaf not See whafs open, closed, postponed or canceled in our comprehensive list of 1 Broward County municipalities.

2B NOTE TO READERS Because of technical difficulties associated with Hurricane Wilma, today's -j Sun-Senfnemaynotbe delivered until late morning; or mid-afternoon. We're sonyr for the inconvenience. WOULD-BE HELPER: This man wanted to see whether anyone was trapped in a semitrailer truck flipped on Interstate 95 by Hurricane Wilma in Boca Raton. Staff photoCarline Jean ALL RIGHTS RESIRVED FOR HOME DELIVERY, CALL 9S4-421-1777 COPYRIGHT 200S VOL. 46, NO.

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