On October 15th 2005 southern Florida was hit by Hurricane Wilma. She came in fast and hit hard with winds that hit 120 mph according to our wind gauges. She struck in the evening and power was out within one hour once the winds kicked up about 40 mph. During the night trapped inside the dark hospital the generators stayed running keeping patient areas lit and comfortable. The wind blew open doors and ripped windows in some offices right out of their frames. Then the rain came, water started pouring in all over the building. Sand bags were placed at nearly every door to try and stop the water. The lobby area was sealed off due to the big front windows starting to bow in. Then the AC went out for the ICU and the only way to get up there was from the outside up on the roof. My crazy boss decided to make the run for it and ended up getting hit in the head on his way back with some flashing that caused a nice cut. The building was making some crazy noises and the ductwork up in the ceilings was banging like crazy with the wind and was really freaking me out when walking down some of the dark hallways. The wind made a howling and screaming noise as it came through the building. When the eye hit all was quiet and we checked a few things outside very quickly and awaited the backside of the storm which was going to be worse and wetter. I was relieved for a 4 hour nap and actually slept through the backside of the storm. Finally the storm was over and we got to wander around and survey the damage. Had some excitement later that night but that is an other story. Enjoy the pics.

Darkwolf

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