Florida Office of Early
Learning Reports Damage by Hurricane Wilma
OCT. 25, 2005 | With power and telephone lines
down, early childhood leaders in Florida could
learn little today about the status of early
care and education providers in the path of
Hurricane Wilma.
At 4:25 p.m. EDT, the state’s child care
resource and referral coordinator reported in an
e-mail, “nothing is open and no one is working
in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe
County!”
The Florida Office of Early Learning
disseminated a four-page status report this
afternoon that reflected anecdotal information,
much of it delivered by telephone and hand-held
computers by representatives of the state
Early Learning Coalition.
From Broward County, Penny
Westberry reported, “Wilma hit South Florida
pretty hard.” Other information from Broward
County was that the hurricane caused “extensive
damage to buildings.” The county’s resource and
referral director was unable to contact staff
members.
From Collier County: “Extensive damage; many
roads still impassable; no power; schools
closed.”
From Glades County:
Clewiston “very hard hit; food/supply delivery
to this area planned for tomorrow.”
From Miami-Dade County: “Extensive damage to
buildings in the city; at least half of the
trees are gone; nothing is open and there is a
curfew in effect from 8
p.m.
to 6 a.m.”
From Palm Beach County: The local office of the
Early Learning Coalition apparently was damaged,
but the alternate headquarters in Broward County
also was “badly damaged.” “Extensive power
outages in Palm Beach and may be 1-4 weeks for
power to be restored; [Early Learning]
Coalition, schools, businesses closed due to no
power.”
Rural Early Childhood will post a map of Florida
early care and education facilities in the
hurricane zone as soon as possible. See maps of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita effects on early
care and education in the
Rural Early
Childhood Atlas.
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39762
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Updated
12/01/2006
