Hurricane Wilma — A Look at the City Before, During, and After….
By: Chief Fred Maas, Interim City Manager

The expressions of disbelief were varied but common. “Oh My God,” “What Happened?,” “ I Can’t Believe The Damage!” All these comments and questions of how and why surfaced after Hurricane Wilma finally made up her mind as to where she was going. For days, she meandered about the lower areas of Central and South America before taking aim on ALL of us.

BEFORE THE STORM:
Predictions of a west coast entry as a category one were half right. It came ashore but as a category three they say. Wilma did not lose strength as predicted when she crossed the state. She was huge in size as is evidenced by the four (4) counties she affected. The vast majority of residents in Sunny Isles Beach remained at home to weather this storm. NO one really knew what to expect but remained in tune with media coverage of the arrival of Wilma.

Public Safety and Police Operations were ready to go. Your police department activated into an emergency mobilization effort of Alpha – Bravo. In layman’s terms that means every officer becomes available to work 12 hour shifts on and off, divided equally between days and nights. The rest of city government services made their final preparations and left to wait it out.

DURING THE STORM:
She was strong and stronger than most expected. She was clearly the strongest we have experienced during any of the previous hits or near hits over the past 2 years. And she was surprisingly large with an “eye” of over 100 miles in diameter. She covered 4 counties as she cut her path SW to NE across the entire state.

SERVICES:
The police department remained in their new government center building which was the first test of how our new building would hold up. It did “MAGNIFICENT” and became the Command Post Center for emergency response by police. And they were there for you throughout the entire storm. This was evidenced when all on duty personnel had to rush to the Arlen House Condominiums during the height of the storm for a “supposed” structural collapse within the building. It was harrowing trying to traverse the streets in an attempt to get there but we had to because no one knew the status of injuries or damage or potential for disaster. Thank God it all worked out but officers were there in an instant.

VISIBLE DAMAGES:
As everyone could see as they ventured out, it was a “MESS.” Trees down, debris everywhere, signs all over; power out everywhere, no traffic signals; store windows and apartment/condo windows blown out. Heavy, Heavy Damage! This was a Category One? We don’t think so.

People immediately saw the former Sunny Isles Beach Marina collapse and all the boats came tumbling down. That was a visible sign to everyone entering the City as to what went thru here.

View Photos of Hurricane Wilma

AFTER THE STORM:
Okay, so now we have assessed and evaluated the scene and city. Where do we go from here? Within several hours of the storm, responses from your city government services were happening. The most visible sign of government services present is your police department. As people ventured out we needed to assume control of traffic that had no lights; contact businesses who had no windows and were exposed; respond to residents who had safety and/or health issues; secure unsafe structures until your building inspectors could arrive. And most importantly, we needed to clean the roadways and streets for PASSAGE. Within 2 hours, public works employees were in our city, responding from their own homes to begin clearing. Forget about cleaning, they just had to clear in order to let people move about. The major arteries such as Collins Ave were made clear first. The major East/West arteries were done. Soon thereafter, it was dark already and the rest had to wait for TOMORROW.
Officers were polite but firm when checking out visitors.

GAS: LINES:
Hurray! The city or at least part of it has power. Well, with success comes problems and since we were the first to get gas stations pumping we had traffic issues and gas lines and the like as people from all over the mainland rushed to us to get gas. Fortunately, the traffic unit had a well prepared plan to post officers and control lines and streamlined the process. Other areas had chaos, while our city remained calm and organized. After a few days as power was restored little by little to other areas, our lines dwindled and we returned to normal.

POWER PROBLEMS:
It is eight days later and we are still dealing with the unfortunates who are still without power. How frustrating when even city officials cannot get answers for their residents about why and when in regards to power restoration. The police department has interceded in cases to try and report specific problems to our area to try and help and help resolve the matter. We can only do so much but at least one can try and get answers but on an after action plan we have some real tough long term questions that residents have asked. Those need to be addressed and answered by Florida Power & Light.

LONG TERM RECOVERY AND PLANNING:
Needless to say, an after-action report and an extensive one at that needs to be prepared for our future. Obviously, we are in a pattern now of frequent storms every year. The City Commission is on a mission to become self-sufficient and secure storage space for the necessary emergency items that is necessary after the storm. Traffic issues, emergency food and water, citizen contacts to check on the welfare of persons. A condominium plan to have personal contact lists and floor captains for accountability. All this will have to come together for the benefit of the City to insure our preparedness for the next Wilma or even stronger.

I would be remiss if I did not express an incredible amount of gratitude for the extraordinary efforts of the police department, public works, city staff and volunteers who made this City shine above all others. I have the calls and comments to support that claim and I will gladly share them with anyone. Thanks to our residents and business owners who under adverse conditions remained calm and patient and truly appreciated the services they were given. We are ALL in this together and together we will stay and make it. God Bless Each of You and Your Families.

TOP