Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WILMA’S AFTERMATH Downtown Fort Lauderdale hit hard by powerful winds HURRicnnc • conunucD froim counties. Damage estimates ranged up to $10 billion. “Tomorrows going to be better than today,” Gov. Jeb Bush said. Some of the worst damage was in downtown Fort Lauderdale, where Wilma was the strongest hurricane to strike since 1950. Winds of more than 100 mph blew out windows in high-rises, many built before Florida enacted tougher construction codes following Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The school districts 14-story headquarters — known as the “Crystal Palace” — was stripped of nearly its entire glass facade on one side. “Were going to have to fix it in a way that is stronger,” schools suDerintendent Frank Till said. Government officials and business executives scrambled to repair buildings and find other places to work. Broward County court officials were trying to determine whether sessions could be held at the damaged courthouse in coming days. Some schools and courts closed for the week. Orders to boil water were issued in many locations. Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties imposed overnight curfews. At Miami International, the busiest U.S. hub for Latin American travel, the first plane to land since the hurricane arrived Tuesday from Brazil, and domestic flights were to resume Wednesday morning. Airports at Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach remained closed to commercial traffic but emergency aircraft were coming ------ into both facilities. At least 2,000 domestic and international flights were disrupted by the storm, affecting hundreds of thousands of fliers, when Wilma knocked out electricity and damaged roofs, towers, fences and other equipment. Agriculture officials said damage to their industry would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The greatest losses were believed to be to the winter vegetable crop, which provides more than half of the nations supply from November to February. Also hurt were sugar cane fields and ornamental-plant nurseries. The 21st storm in the worst Atlantic hurricane season on record, Wilma was blamed for at least five deaths statewide. Before hitting the United States, it killed at least six people in Mexico, one in Jamaica and 12 in Haiti as it swirled across the Caribbean. “It will be days or weeks before we are back to normal,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said. In the wake of complaints over the way the government dealt with Hurricane Katrina, the governor praised the early response to Wilma. But not everyone was so pleased. Thousands , of people reportedly stood in line for up to 10 hours in North Miami, waiting for relief supplies that did not arrive until early evening. “Pretty sad,” said Douglas Riley, shaking his head after waiting 7 1/2 hours for two bags of ice. “It’s very disappointing for the amount of stuff we got. But I’m grateful.” Trucks carrying bags of ice and cases of water were late to a number of distribution areas. “We know the assets are there. Now it’s just a matter of getting the product to the people,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said. FEMA spokeswoman Frances Marine urged patience. “We can’t wave a magic wand and clear roads and fix damage that was done by nature in a day,” she said. Distribution went more smoothly elsewhere. At Key West High School, the food even included Key lime pie. And many storm-sawy Floridians coped with good humor, their mood lifted in part by spectacular weather in the wake of Wilma: cloudless skies and unseasonably low temperatures that dropped into the 50s about dawn Tuesday and were in the mid-70s during the day. “This weather is a blessing,” said Agnes Howard, who found her home without air conditioning following a hurricane for the second time in two months. “The heat in the aftermath of the last storm was insufferable,” said her husband, John Terrill, referring to Augusts Katrina. “Nobody slept for days. At least we got a good nights sleep last night.” Wilma knocked out power for hundreds of miles, cutting off electricity to a staggering one out of three Florida residents. Florida Power Scamp; Light, the state biggest utility, said Wilma affected more of its 4.3 million customers than any other natural disaster in the company’s history. Allen Eyestone / Palm Beach Post Volunteer Dave Jeresko loads water into waiting cars driving through the South Florida Fairgrounds looking for supplies on Tuesday near West Palm Beach, Fla, in the aftremath of Hurricane Wilma. I-1 ® ZEUS Technical Inside Sales Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. is a leader in fluoropolymer extrusion for the ^ medical, aerospace, automotive, analytical, electronics, semiconductor, and environmental industries. We are seeking qualified candidates for the position of Inside Sales Associate for our Sales and Marketing facility located in Orangeburg, SC. Sales Associates perform a wide array of sales functions including reviewing customer applications, problem solving, account maintenance, and generating new business. Requirements: Bachelors degree preferably in Business, International Business, Biology. Psychology, Packaging Science, Engineering 1-3 yeaJrs of prior technical sales experience Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. is a growing company offering a competitive compensation and benefits package. Please submit your resume to: Zeus Industrial Products, Inc., 620 Magnolia St., Orangeburg, SC, 29115. t Attention: HR, or use our e-mail address: salesassociate@zeusinc.com. Our " fax is 803-536-5550. No phone calls please! EOE/M/F/D/V OCT. 27,2008 9 PM-MIDNIGHT 4 RUSSELL HOUSE LOWER LEVEL HAUNTED HALLWAY RUSSELL HOUSE WEST WING LOWER LEVEL ENTRANCE CO-HOSTED BY OMEGA PSI PHI & A EPSILON SIGMA ALPHA 777-7716 WWW.SA.SC.EDU/ADP