Wilma was a bitch!

Copied from an e-mail to my family:

Hey all,
Just a quick FYI as I am at work today (not sure why - but my boss insisted). We survived reletivly intact but it was very a very scary storm this time. I really thought we would lose the roof for a while but thankfully, it appears to be OK. I'm sure you have seen pictures on TV on the damage down here - and it's all real. It looks like a bomb went off - especially downtown. Entire sides of buildings are missing. All the trees have been stripped of their leaves and many are not standing at all. It's almost like someone took a buzz saw and chopped everything down to house top level. Fences are down everywhere and it's weird to be able to look right through to other people's yards.
With all the leaves off the trees it looks like winter - but of course it isn't winter here in S. Florida. However, directly after the hurricane we had record low temperatures in the low 50s. That usually doesn't happen until December - but the storm was so powerful that it brought all the cool air from up north down here. It's actually a welcome change since we don't have electricity to run our AC.
The power is off to almost the entire S. Florida area, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach. The Star viewing at night has been very nice though! They say we may be without power for a month - and I believe it. Lines are down everywhere. Traffic is very complicated with blocked roads and no traffic lights at any intersections. It's not just that they are off - they are not there anymore.
I waited in line for 4 hours yesterday to get ice. We have plenty of food and water, but without ice everything spoils (and the beer sucks). You can't plan in advance to store ice because it just melts as soon as the power is out. We were also without running water for 2 days - but thankfully that has been restored. A boil order is still in effect.
I'm including some pictures - mostly of my big tree in the front yard. Keep in mind that it was whole and full of leaves just days ago. The pool has taken 3 days to get the debris out - including lots of shingles. We got it mostly out now but without electricity, it won't get cleaned up for a long time.
All in all - it's a huge mess. But, despite it all, we are in much better shape than those in Cancun. I can't imagine having to go through 3 days of a storm like that.