Hurricane Wilma, 2005, by Allison Artrip
From MemoryArchive
Who: Allison Artrip What: Hurricane Wilma When: 2005 Where: Coral Springs, Fl.
I remember it coming during the night. I was asleep for most of the hurricane and I had no sense of time for the fact that the shutters on the windows made everything really dark. A little before the hurricane ended I woke up and joined my family out in the living room. My parents were listening to the radio while my brother and sister played quitely with their stuffed animals. This hurricane wasn't very startling to us considering we had gone through so many especially that season. The only difference was the fact that there was a ton of banging on the windows but we didn't make much of a fuss.
When we were permitted to go outside, I didn't notice where I was. I looked around my front yard and then followed my dad around the house. The destruction of the powerful winds was nothing like I had ever seen. Trees ripped in ways I never thought possible, pieces of roof scattered amongst the ground, trash and leaves littering the floor. The entire neighborhood was a disaster.
After my family and I inspected the house I called up my boyfriend to make sure he was ok. Luckily for him, since he didn't put up any shutters, he didn't have any serious damage done to his house. A couple hours later when the weather had passed for good, my boyfriend and our friend came over to visit and then go and check out the town. What I saw was something I will never forget. Trees scattered like candy wrappers all over the roads. In order for us to get by we had to swerve cautiously to make sure to not hit the car. Traffic lights were torn in half, roof tops filpped onto the street, building windows shattered and sunk in. There was nothing positive about the aftermath. For the next month and a half there was no power for the entire city. Week by week a neighborhood or two would regian their power and water. As my family and I waited for our power, we sat by candle light, unsure of any timeframe of when we would get power.
Although this hurricane wasn't as destructive as Katrina that hit Mississippi and Louisiana, it affected thousands of people sending their lives off track. Hurricane Wilma was the worst storm that had ever hit Coral Springs, Fl. during the past 43 years of its existence. Historical buildings that were once active to the community were shut down and demolished because of it being unable to reconstruct. People had to wear blue tarps over their roofs for the next few months while they waited in line for the roofing companies to get to them next. Each situation affects each community differently. Each community goes through each situation differently as well. It is how the community gets through it that makes each situation with a better outcome. Because there was no power to distract everyone from technology, many people had bon fires and invited neighbors over for dinner by candle light. This helped my neighborhood at least get to know each other and learn about all the different people we live next to. Something so destructive helped a community come together and grow from what was one of the worst natural disaster in its history.
