Wilma Destruction Photo

[sunshine]

Here are from CNN, post more if u find more

Residents of Grandview Palace condominiums take in the damage caused by Hurricane Wilma from their balcony Monday.

Downtown Palm Beach

Colonial Bank, Miami

A condominium construction site in downtown Ft. Lauderdale lies in ruins after Hurricane Wilma's devastating winds struck South Florida.

Hurricane Wilma causes extensive damage to the Broward Financial Center in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Glass blows out several windows of the Kathleen C. Wright Building on SE 3rd Ave and 6th street in Fort Lauderdale.

[Florida]

WOW! My jaw just hit the floor. I didn't know Wilma was that mean.

[Dale]

It's news to me that there is a construction site in downtown Ft. Laud.

Yeah, it's sobering. Hope it doesn't spook prospective highrise developers and tenants.

[asonj23]

That is absolutely shocking! Thank the lord, however, we only suffered the loss of a few lives, versus, what could have been many more.

My prayers go out to all of the survivors as well as the not so lucky.

You South Floridians are tough!

[sunshine]

Damage to the glass windows of the Greenberg Traurig building on Miami's Brickell Avenue following the path of hurricane Wilma.

[NCB]

Wow! The skyscrapers seemed to have suffered as much, if not more, damage than the skyscrapers in New Orleans. Wilma certainly was a mean one.

[bobliocatt]

^I think New Orleans only got hit by Cat. 2 winds from Hurricane Katrina. Miami got hit by a strong Cat. 3.

[Florida]

The crane in the picture above looks like its made of rubber. I can't believe Wilma was packin all that junk in her trunk.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

wow. The damage is astounding. It's too bad this is what the next 15 years will be like (according to leading meteorologists).

What are the damage numbers being thrown around?

[waccamatt]

The unbelievable thing is that the damage shown above was on the opposite coast from where Wilma made landfall. That was after some weakening had occurred. I hope some better glass can be developed. Thank goodness the loss of life was not extreme like with Katrina.

[bobliocatt]

Early damage estimates are in the range of $10 billion. The hurricane was able to substain most of its wind speed, without weakening, because it moved over the, already wet, Florida Everglades before hitting Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.

[ironchapman]

It certainly is sad to see those pictures of the devastation, however, I must say that the satellite pic of Wilma over South Florida looked almost unreal.

Just out of curiousity, what is the total estimate of damage for hurricanes as a whole this year (Katrina, Rita, Wilma).

[Aessotariq]

A rather morbid factoid: South Florida reluctantly earns the unique distinction of haveing been struck by a storm beginning with the first AND last letters of the alphabet (Andrew and Wilma). Lovely couple, don't you think?

I found this article discussing all the blown out windows... Interesting reading. So far, there seems to be a common consensus that either construction debris or (I'm shaking my head in disbelief at this one) roof gravel could have pelted the windows to the point of failure.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/12996051.htm

[Florida]

A rather morbid factoid: South Florida reluctantly earns the unique distinction of haveing been struck by a storm beginning with the first AND last letters of the alphabet (Andrew and Wilma).

What ever happened to X, Y, and Z?

[ironchapman]

What ever happened to X, Y, and Z?

Names that begin with those letters are so uncommon and weird that they (the hurricanes) aren't given names that start with those letters. The same is true with 'Q'.

[Florida]

I'm sure Xena would have packed a mean punch! Zorro too!

[sunshine]

Xmen

Yoda

&

Zathura

They should sell the naming right to make some money.

Does people in mexico used the same name we used too?

[A2]

A rather morbid factoid: South Florida reluctantly earns the unique distinction of haveing been struck by a storm beginning with the first AND last letters of the alphabet (Andrew and Wilma). Lovely couple, don't you think?

I found this article discussing all the blown out windows... Interesting reading. So far, there seems to be a common consensus that either construction debris or (I'm shaking my head in disbelief at this one) roof gravel could have pelted the windows to the point of failure.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/12996051.htm

That makes since. Any debris would compromise the integrity of the glass itself. I think all in all the structral damage was mainly cosmetic. I know that Miami is real strict on building codes. It can cost much more to build a skraper in Miami or LA because of these restrictions than it would in say Atlanta or Charlotte.

On a side note I am quite astonished at the shear numbers on windows blown out. It really must have been one helluva blow. Anywho, I know that South FL will be back in no time. It is just too hot for development in that area for it to slow too much. The demand is strong.

Most of the migration will continue to the Miami area not just from the NE, but from Latin America.

Many latinos still have to face calamity's in their home country, so to most I am sure it is nothing they have not seen before. Being in the US offers much in the way of opportunity and Miami is very strong in its International appeal. This storm will not detour Miami from continuing to boom IMO.

A2

[Aessotariq]

They should sell the naming right to make some money.

Does people in mexico used the same name we used too?

All the storms in the North Atlantic come from the same list, spelling and all.

The names that make up the list come from all the languages that are represented in the Americas and Caribbean, like English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Portuguese.

So for example, the hurricane that struck Honduras and Nicaragua was referred to as "el hurac

[Dale]

Xmen

Yoda

&

Zathura

They should sell the naming right to make some money.

Does people in mexico used the same name we used too?

I'm still waiting for - Spongebob.

[csmurphy8885]

Quintan... Qualisha

Xavier... Xena

Yasmine... Yorge

Zebulon.... Zora

[Urban_Legend]

What about some ghetto-fabulous names?

Hurricane Shaniqua? La Fawnduh??

[bic]

Did somebody say La Fawnduh?

[Florida]

Did somebody say La Fawnduh?

UH-OK!

LOL

[jim09091]

Pictures from my family's home in Bonita Beach:

Before:

After:

Naples:

window on boat smashed out....

All in all not too bad considering we took the initial hit here on the west coast but with the storm's speed it didn't weaken when it crossed the coast.... but over here almost everyone was prepared and things have been getting back to normal.....