http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/ en Feedback@tbo.com Copyright 2008 2008-01-10T18:18:00-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/safe_haven_for_authors_and_all/ Anyone from Matlacha who finds Hurricane Wilma stronger than their desire to stay in their home can find last-minute refuge at Capt. Mike’s Market.
Manager Ric Jefferis decided to open the store 8 a.m. Monday, no matter how bad Wilma’s wrath and regardless of the condition of the store.…]]> Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-24T03:07:19-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/hurricane_fatigue_hits_residents_before_wilma/ People are suffering from hurricane burnout and Wilma hasn’t even hit Florida yet.
Wilma’s been such a strange hurricane because it’s taken so much longer to get here than many residents first thought.
That has allowed for a staggered evacuation rather than a mad rush that can…]]> Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-23T19:57:07-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/shrimpers_wisdom/ Ed Kiesel said something today that I can’t get out of my head.
Kiesel is a shrimp boat owner in Fort Myers who was talking about why he loves his profession: “Sometimes it can be boring, but you’ve always got the chance it won’t be. At any moment, there…]]> Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-23T02:02:17-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/fema_village_people/ You know news is happening when mobile home parks have public affairs officers to escort you around the property.
We decided to stop by one of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s mobile home parks erected for survivors of Hurricane Charley to see how they were reacting to the threat…]]> Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-21T21:52:18-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/wheres_wilma/ It doesn’t feel like a hurricane is barreling toward the Fort Myers area judging by the ho-hum attitude of locals here.
Sure, the TVs are turned to the weather station and a few businesses and homes are boarded up. But gas is still plentiful and lines are nonexistent. Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-20T22:51:28-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/the_search_for_gas_begins/ The trick to covering a hurricane is to get gas whenever you can.
At home, I won’t even think about gas until my low-fuel light goes on.
While waiting for a hurricane, I get nervous when the gauge drops below three-quarters full.
So this morning,…]]> Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-20T11:57:35-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/getting_to_know_the_next_victim/ You look at a community differently when you are waiting for a hurricane.
Photographer Michael Spooneybarger and I spent the night driving on Sanibel and Captiva islands trying to get a feel for the area before the storm. It was a pretty normal night. People were out to dinner,…]]> Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-20T02:59:35-05:00 http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/hurricane/comments/in_place_and_ready/ We arrived in Fort Myers about 5 p.m., before the expected frenzy of evacuation for Wilma. Residents here like saying “Wilma? Who’s Wilma?” or “What hurricane?” But there’s barely a television set not tuned to local weathercasters making their best predictions about where the storm might go. A few evacuees from…]]> Tracking Wilma: With Baird Helgeson & Michael Spooneybarger 2005-10-19T21:16:28-05:00