Latest News Reports

TBO.com > Hurricane

Tracking Wilma: On The Road With Bill Ward

Getting Started


This morning I picked up my rental car at a place at Tampa International Airport and headed south on Interstate 75 toward Sarasota. I have a little trepidation, leaving my family – wife, a 2 year old and 6 year old - behind knowing that Tampa is still in the cone of uncertainty. I’ve never gone seeking a Catetory 5 hurricane. It’s a little unnerving, but I’m really jazzed to be going down here.

As a sports reporter for The Tampa Tribune, covering Wilma is a little bit out of my realm of expertise. I’m not going to the Olympics or a high school track meet or a Friday night prep football game. But this has the same feel as the Olympics because this is the big story.

I’m driving a 2005 Ford Excursion, something I would never be caught dead in. In Sarasota, there are no hints of any anxiety yet. Traffic is light and there are no lines at the gas pumps. My plan is to move along Florida’s southwest coast during the next couple of days and file reports on what’s happening as the area prepares for Hurricane Wilma.

Stay tuned.

Send Us Your Comments

Posted by  Marsha Randolph, Sarasota's St Armand Circle on 10/25  at  04:00 AM

I could not open the 360 panoramas. I am dying to see them, especially St Armand’s Circle. It’s been years since I have been there. Do you have any stills to email of that area?

I grew up in Tampa, but have not been back since 1996. I am missing Florida and do a lot of web surfing to get a look at my ole home town.

Thanks for making that possible.

Marsha


Posted by  mary, port charlotte on 10/19  at  02:37 PM

Bill, check out the gas lines at Sam’s Club off Veteran’s Blvd...the line was stretching out onto 776 this noon. And the WalMart & Publix are jammed with people picking up supplies. U.S. 41 North from here to Venice had more traffic on it this a.m. than we’ve seen since the snowbirds flew home.


Page 1 of 1 pages


Write a letter to the editor | Subscribe and get two weeks free | Place an Ad Online

Site Tools

RSS Feeds:
XML Feed for this channel
All feeds/RSS FAQ


Most popular news:

This feature requires the Macromedia Flash Plugin. Please visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer to download this plugin.


ADVERTISEMENT

Advertise With Us:
Online | In Print | Broadcast