Adios, Latino Heat

Eddie Guerrero, the fiery Mexican wrestler with WWE, known as "Latino Heat," was found dead this morning in his hotel room in Minneapolis, MN. Eddie was 38 years old and leaves a wife and three young daughters behind. Eddie was always one of the toughest, most rugged competitors. He was also one of the most entertaining, often entering the arena in one of his low riders. His biography can be found on Wikipedia. He will be greatly missed.

Let there be light

Ten and a half days without electricity isn't fun. It's further frustrating when people two blocks away have had power for several days. On the other hand, my roof is intact, and there is no real damage to my house itself, except for a broken window. I guess I didn't crank one window tightly enough. The shutters protected all the others. It was great to see my front porch light on when I drove up this afternoon. But, my neighbor behind me still is in the dark. Most of my neighborhood is still in the dark. Right after Wilma left the area, according to The Miami Herald, 956,500 customers in Miami-Dade County and 862,800 customers in Broward County lost power. According to The Sun-Sentinel, some 218,600 are still without power in Broward, and 182,000 are still without power in Miami-Dade County. Cold showers, cold soup, warm drinks, dirty clothes, etc., are not fun but are things you can live with. The biggest problem that many people had was losing shingles and tar paper from their roofs. Though Wilma was rather dry as storms go, many people experienced water damage. It got worse when it rained two days ago. According to today's paper, some 2,323 homes were deemed unsafe after the rain in Broward County. Many are older homes or apartments, including many senior citizens. With shelters closing (many were schools), it's not clear where everyone will go. Though not as devastating as Katrina was in New Orleans, Wilma will have caused billions of dollars worth of damage when it's all done with (which will be next year and beyond).



I know what I need to do to better prepare next hurricane season. I hope others have also learned. I don't know why people were in line for water and ice one day later. We were told to prepare. Many of us didn't do it properly. Publix was open within two days and selling water. The long lines for gas also didn't make any sense. My tank was full though there was really no place to go. Some 80% of traffic lights are still missing or inoperative. Driving is tricky. We will have been out of school for two weeks. All of our campuses experienced damage though our North Campus had the most. They will all be ready to go Monday. I hope our students are ready to go. Searching The Miami Herald and The Sun-Sentinel will give you everything you need to know about all of this. As with Katrina, the human stories are the most compelling. There are many still to be told.

I peeked out my front door and took a picture during the storm

The carrotwood tree pulled out of the ground; the tree on the side is totally gone

The tree just touched the house