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News Archive Index
10-31-2005
Two weeks after visitors fled under mandatory hurricane evacuation orders, the Florida Keys are welcoming them back. Hurricane Wilma's storm surge flooded parts of the low-lying island chain. Director of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, Harold Wheeler, says tourism-related loss exceed 45 million dollars since the mandatory evacuations took effect October 19th.
“It’s been 10 days since we asked our visitors to leave for Hurricane Wilma. Our business owners need a cash flow and our employees need paychecks, and some of them work on tips. We have reopened slowly and businesses are up and running. And we really appreciate the people who were already booked and are still continuing to come down and some of the others who have chose to come. We need the economic impact of having our visitors come back.”
Key Largo, Islamorada and Marathon reopened to tourists this weekend. The Lower Keys and Key West opened to visitors today.
Both Keys airports are open and Key West International has resumed commercial flight operations. Key West's port is also open. Some events that were canceled because of Wilma, such as Fantasy Fest and a concert fund-raiser for Hurricane Katrina victims, have been rescheduled.
10-31-2005
Hurricane Wilma damaged or destroyed many crops in Southwest Florida. It also did major damage to one of the state’s top agriculture research facilities. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.
10-31-2005
Florida Attorney General – Charlie Crist – sued a Fort Myers hotel Friday for allegedly inflating prices on rooms during Hurricane Wilma.
Following Governor Jeb Bush's declaration of a state of Emergency - the Wellesley Inn and Suites in Fort Myers allegedly increased its rate by as much as 108-percent. Crist calls price-gouging unconscionable.
”It’s bad enough that we have to deal with storms. The thing that would be awful is if our citizens, while they’re suffering from a storm, trying to get ice, water, plywood…a hotel room in this case…find themselves being price gouged in order to seek safety. It’s just wrong, and that’s why we’ve filed suit.”
Crist says most gouging complaints are split between gasoline and supplies like food, ice and water. Price gouging can bring a 1-thousand dollar fine per incident – up to 25-thousand dollars per day. But it can also accelerate and become an unfair trade & deceptive practice violation – which brings a 10-thousand dollar fine per incident. The price gouging statute will remain in place until December 20th. To report suspected gouging – call 866-9-NO-SCAM.
10-31-2005
Naples Zoo took a considerable hit from Hurricane Wilma – and still has a long road to recovery. Although the zoo’s animals weathered the storm well, about half the trees in its botanical garden were uprooted or significantly damaged. A number of the exhibit structures also suffered damage. Spokeswoman – Denise Rendina – says it might be months before the Zoo’s up and running…
“It could be Thanksgiving or Christmas before we’re open again. The good news is we made it with all of the animals through the storm. We had a few animals that actually did get out of their enclosures. Kangaroos & a mud jack…which is a small deer…those have all been recaptured and they’re in their exhibits.”
While no animals were lost during Wilma – one female Parma wallaby and a tiny joey in her pouch died of stress prior to the storm’s arrival. Go to the zoo’s website – www-dot-caribbeangardens-dot-com – for updates, and ways to help.
10-28-2005
From November through January just about all the fresh tomatoes and green peppers in the U.S. come from Southwest Florida. Following Wilma, fields are flooded and flattened. That’s bad news both for consumers and growers. The first of the season’s tomatoes should have been ready to harvest in two weeks. But many fields lay in ruins - the tomato and pepper plants are wind or water damaged or both. Dr. Fritz Roka is an agricultural economist with the University of Florida Research Center in Immokalee. He says Immokalee’s vegetable industry has clearly been compromised.
“As to how much prices will rise I don’t know but clearly what’s going to be hurt is the revenues the tomato and pepper producers can make during what they always though of as their prime market window.”
Roka says it takes about 90 days for a tomato or pepper plant to grow from a seedling to maturity. The plants are grown in rotation – so the harvest continues for about three months. Meanwhile Roka says, migrant farm workers who’ve converged on the area for the harvest should still find plenty to do – clearing damaged fields and replanting new ones.
10-28-2005
Hurricane Wilma caused substantial damage to the heart of Florida’s sugar industry. Not only was much of the sugarcane crop blown down by Wilma’s 100-plus mile hour winds…but sugar mills and storage warehouses suffered structural damage. Many ‘cane fields remain completely underwater. U-S Sugar in Clewiston – one of the state’s largest sugar producers – suffered damage to its mills, storage facilities and internal railroad line. Spokeswoman for the company - Judy Sanchez - says they don’t know when sugarcane harvesting will resume.
“The sugar cane fields have pretty much all been blown down. Substantial damage to the crops…how much we’re not sure. We still need to get into the individual fields and determine if it’s blown over, if it’s been uprooted, and what its chances for re-growth are.”
Statewide, the industry lost about 30-percent of its crop to LAST year’s hurricanes. Florida produces about 25-percent of the nation’s sugar. The sugar industry contributes about 2-Billion dollars to the state’s economy every year. Sanchez says consumers should NOT expect to see a bump in the price of sugar – because the nation as a whole relies so heavily on IMPORTED sugar.
10-27-2005
The power is coming back on in Immokalee. Most streets are clear and debris has been picked up. Damage to the rural Collier County town appears to have been minimal – but damage to the food crops grown in the surrounding area – was major. Consumers can expect to pay more for tomatoes and peppers in the coming weeks. But the people of Immokalee who earn their living in the fields are paying now. Valerie Alker prepared this report.
10-27-2005
Many residents of Copeland, Everglades City and Chokoloskee are shoveling mud from their homes and cleaning up the rubble left in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.
It’s the hardest hit area in Southwest Florida, but as Alexa Elliott reports, the locals are resilient….
10-27-2005
Travel experts say Hurricane Wilma has taken a bite out of this region’s tourism industry. Outbreaks of red tide and a year’s worth of tropical systems will likely mean fewer visitors will come to this area.
Tourism is Lee County’s biggest industry worth an estimated two-billion dollars in direct and indirect spending. Almost 40-thousand people work for businesses that deal with visitors. D-T Minich is executive director of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau. He says names like Wilma, Charley, Katrina and Rita spell bad news for attracting visitors here.
“We definitely have some challenges ahead of us. And you know we’re just trying to do the best we can in terms of public relations and marketing and also educating the visitor on some of these issues as well.”
Minich is most concerned about convention planners turning their backs on southwest Florida. He says the visitors’ bureau has increased its marketing efforts the last two years and expects to ramp up even more to encourage people to visit the region.
10-27-2005
Recovery and cleanup are underway – and many people affected by Hurricane Wilma are now turning to their insurance companies for help. To help take the confusion out of that process – the Florida Department of Financial Services has set up a one-stop shop in Naples to help residents with their insurance needs. Every day until further notice – from 8 a.m to 7 p.m – representatives from the state, as well as from insurance companies who represent people in the area - will be at the Wal-Mart in East Naples. Director of the Consumer Services Division of the Florida Department of Financial Services - Marta Airington - says the one stop shop makes sense because many insurance agents might be hard to contact…
“So it makes a lot more sense to us to have a mobile area that everyone can come to. They can talk to us for a while to understand exactly what the process is going to be, and talk to a representative from their company to get that claim started as quickly as possible. We put out what we call a blast email to all of the companies saying if you have a lot of policies in this area we really want you to be here, we want you to bring your mobile response unit…we want you to be able to write checks on the spot to these people that are really hurting.”
Representatives from Allstate – First Floridian – Citizens – and Hartford are already on hand…Airington says they’re expecting more companies to be represented soon. People should bring their policy, if they can…as well as identification.
10-27-2005
Weeks not days – that’s the estimate from Florida Power & Light on how long it might take to COMPLETELY restore power to customers in south Florida. FPL spokesman - Bill Swank – says Hurricane Wilma caused unprecedented outages.
“This is the most damaging hurricane that we’ve experienced in south Florida. We had a total of 3.2 million customers without service as a result of Wilma. Never before have we had that many people out at one time. It’s going to be a very massive operation for us over the next couple weeks.”
FPL crews will work around the clock assessing damage. Swank says the goal is to restore service to the most number of customers in the least amount of time.
“So we’re obviously looking for the facilities that don’t have a lot of damage, and we put those back into service first, because we can get a lot of customers back in service that way. The next level is working on the lines that feed the next number of customers, and so forth. So it’s a matter of trying to get the most people back in service in the least amount of time possible.”
Hurricane Wilma cut a swath across the state from Marco Island to the Miami-Dade area, which was also hard hit. 98-percent of customers in the Miami-Dade area were without power after the storm. Swank asks people not to call to report outages – unless it’s an emergency – because they know who has electricity…and who doesn’t.
10-27-2005
Fort Myers Republican Congressman – Connie Mack – says he doesn’t think Hurricane Wilma delivered the punch it could have – but it still turned many lives upside-down. Mack camped out at the Collier County Emergency Operations Center during the storm. He says he was very impressed with the level of organization and communication he witnessed there…calling it a model that could be used statewide. Mack – who is now back in Washington - toured several area shelters Tuesday. He says although he HAS been critical of the Federal Emergency Management Agency - he’s recently seen a change…
“I’ve been critical of FEMA on the way it handled out storms last year – and the way it’s handled storms this year. There’s a new director – and I’ve already seen a difference. They’re paying attention. For me, if they’re going to promise they’re going to do something, then do it. Don’t tell us you’re going to do something, and then change the rules halfway through the game.”
Mack says Florida has a ground up model for disaster recovery – meaning it’s up to LOCAL communities to ask for assistance…and that, he says, HAS happened. He says he’s not as concerned about immediate needs, so much as long-term cleanup issues…
“My concern will come in frankly as we try the long term recovery process…you know, the assistance FEMA is to provide with removal of garbage & debris. That was a big issue for us in Charlotte & Lee after the last hurricane…and we want to make sure we don’t have those problems again.”
Congressman Mack says he will continue to monitor the situation from Washington – and keep a close eye on FEMA, so they know someone’s paying attention.
10-26-2005
Collier county schools are closed through Friday.
There are 8 points of distribution in Collier County for water and ice.
Barron Collier High School, the Immokalee Farmers Market, Bealls shopping center in East Naples, the Bealls on Marco, the south end of Coastland Mall, Freedom Square, the Ochopee sheriff’s substation and Manatee elementary school.
The Sarah Ann drop in center on airport pulling road opened a pantry to distribute canned goods.
Catholic Charities has a food pantry from 9 to 5 at 4209 East Tamiami Trail. It also has a food distribution center at the Guadalupe Center in Immokalee. Both are open through Friday and need donations.
The Collier department of health is closed today.
The City of Naples and Immokalee are under a boil water notice. Boil water for drinking or cooking for one full minute. Or use 8 drops of chlorine bleach per gallon of water.
All U.S. Postal Service retail facilities in the 341 zip code prefix with the exception of Everglades city, Ochopee and Chokoloskee are open and mail will be delivered.
The Florida Department of Insurance Regulation and Allstate Floridian have opened a mobile response unit in the east Naples WalMart Parking lot.
10-26-2005
Hendry County government offices are closed today. Hendry schools are closed today. School staff on the Labelle side should report for work.
5800 residents are without power including the city of Clewiston, but the hospital emergency room is functioning on a generator.
Clewiston is under a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am as there have been reports of looting in damaged structures.
Food, water, and roof tarps are being distributed at John Boy in Clewiston and the Labelle Municipal Airport from 8 to 5 today and Thursday.
Items are also being given out at the Felda and Pioner volunteer fire departments and at the Monture Clubhouse from 10 to 5. Volunteers are needed.
Place horticultural debris in the right of way by the roads.
The Hendry County hotline is 863-675-5392.
10-26-2005
Here’s a Hurricane Wilma recovery update for Glades County:
Glades public schools are closed Wednesday and Thursday.
Water, ice and food are being distributed at:
The Doyle Conner Building on US 27, Lakeport Community Center, The Buckhead Ridge, Muse, Indian Hills, Ortona and Palmdale Fire Departments.
All Glades County residents are under a boil water notice. Boil drinking and cooking water for a full minute at a rolling boil. If you don’t have power put 8 drops of chlorine bleach in a gallon of water.
A curfew remains in effect countywide for Glades from dusk to dawn until electrical power is completely restored.
Glades County rumor control hotline – 863-946-6021.
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