I think I heard reports of it in Miami, but nothing much. The curfew is helping in that respect. 7PM to 5AM in Palm Beach County, 7PM to 7AM in Broward, but I think they’re going to increase it to 11PM. I don’t know what it is in Miami – that’s about 60 miles - and a whole world away - to our south.
I had a five-dollar bet with my wife that it would arrive at our side of the state no greater than a “two.” Now she’s wishing she had taken the wager …
I think that’s probably true to a certain extent. Despite having gone through Frances and Jeanne last year, some people seemed to think that a Cat 2 storm was no big deal. One of my coworkers told me that her parents had very little food in the house because they assumed they could just head to Publix in a day or two. So while many PBC residents had supplies for 72 hours or more, others were woefully unprepared.
As for the extended outages, though, I’m not sure what people could have done to prepare better. For example, I froze gallon jugs of drinking water to keep my freezer cold during the power outage. It worked well for the 40 hours that my power was out, but it wouldn’t have kept the food cold forever. The county estimates that some residents won’t get their power back until Nov. 22. Those people will need all the help they can get.
I read this morning that police have arrested a few people for looting, but it seems like the incidents have been few and far between.
Thanks! 
And yep, I’m in West Palm. I think the southern part of the county has much more damage. My office in Palm Beach Gardens was up and running on Tuesday afternoon.
If you haven’t already, Daithi Lacha, check out the “What’s Open Near You” blogs in the Palm Beach Post. There’s some good information about which grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. are open in different neighborhoods.
Got smacked pretty bad, didn’t we.
Those stars are AMAZING though. Is it possible that in my peripheral vision, which I think is more senstive, that I can actually see the faint “clouds” of stars of the galaxy? I though I read somewhere that that can be seen with the naked eye in palces with no light pollution, which is where we’re pretty much at.
Yes, I was aware of the Milky Way on Monday night, like a cloud glowing behind the starfield. I come from a fairly rural community up in NY, and had grown up with bright endless stars. It was quite a shock to see them all again!
The Publix by us is up and running, as is the local Qwik-E-Mart. We just have to wait for them to get ice & milk, now. Thank heavens for propane-powered camping stoves!
In the world of bad timing, I’m being promoted at work and transferred to- you guess it, South FL (Hollywood, to be exact). I already have a place there and I have to report for work next week, so it’s onward and downward- here I come with my moving truck.
I know I probably won’t have power for a while, so we have a generator, we’ll have extra gasoline, a camp stove,propane, flashlights,water and other stuff. I’ll be working at a hospital and I already know they have power, so I should be able to use that as a resource for extra water if needed, etc.
Wow, talk about your bad timing. Fellow Floridians, see you soon!
Well, according to the Sun-Sentinel, power has been restored to parts of Hollywood, and your boil-water order has been lifted. So at least you’ll be able to enjoy refreshingly cold showers!
Welcome, btw We’re all going to have to have an East Coast Dopefest one of these days …
Woohoo! Got power and phone. Now I can eat my Spam sandwiches by the warm glow of the SDMB, as God intended.
I’m glad all our South Floridopers came through okay. Has everyone checked in?
I’m not sure I’ve seen anything from Sua Sponte since before Wilma. He had a thread in the Pit about an annoying elderly neighbor at his condo.
SuaSponte and I were without power through Friday afternoon, when we left for a wedding (and some hot showers) in New York. We got power back some time this weekend, and we came home tonight. All is well.
Ladyfoxfyre, I’ve been keeping a lookout for you, and I finally found it!
Wilma’s birth to landfall in Florida, Oct. 15-24. (direct link to .mov file, 12.5mb)
Here is a link to the page I got this from.