Wilma Wreaked Havoc With Weaker Winds

SHAKE AND BLOW

AFP satellite photo of Hurricane Wilma (and Alpha behind it).

Miami (UPI) Nov 07, 2005
Hurricane Wilma may have generally wreaked havoc across Florida last month, but meteorologists say it did it with mostly Category 1 wind speeds.

Officials say the fact that hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed and millions of people were left without electricity demonstrates a major hurricane is not needed to produce major damage.

Officially, the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center say Wilma was a Category 3 storm when it hit southwest Florida near Naples early Oct. 24 and diminished to a Category 2 when it exited the eastern part of the state.

But NWS Meteorologist Robert Molleda told the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post he saw mostly evidence of Category 1 damage, with only pockets of more severe havoc, during an aerial inspection after the storm.

And a University of Florida scientist said five mobile wind gauges along Wilma's path recorded essentially Category 1 sustained winds across the state of Florida.

The weather service said no official gauge on land in Florida measured sustained Category 3 wind speeds of 125 mph, the Post reported. And only two official sites -- Lake Okeechobee's south end and Biscayne Bay -- recorded even Category 2 winds.

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SHAKE AND BLOW

First Katrina Flooding Report Is Released

Washington (UPI) Nov 02, 2005
A preliminary report on the performance of the New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina showed there were many breaches in the city's levees.

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