Hurricane Wilma

Hurricane Wilma devastated Key West leaving the greatest impact on developed land, this would greatly affect the businesses and people living on the island. Long term the damage from Wilma will have an effect on the economy and residents of Key West. The cost to rebuild, attract business and tourism back to the region could reach into the tens if not hundreds of millions and take years to get back to where the region was before the hurricane.

Since only 92 % of the island was flooded the damage to health facilities and infrastructure was devastating. Only two churches and one school were not in the area flooded by the storm surge, the majority of the roads were flooded and all of the hospitals were flooded. A portion of one of the non-flooded churches or school can be set up as a command center for emergency responders, and the remaining area can act as health facilities and shelters while restoration is under way. Priority for restoration needs to be on health facilities and roads; to treat and transport any injured persons. Secondary priority needs to be on schools and churches to act as temporary triage and shelter points.

While there is no way to completely prepare for every scenario that a storm like Wilma can throw at Key West, taking the information learned from past storms can help develop a strong game plan. Looking that the areas that flooded, and were damaged the most can help first responders target those areas immediately after the storm. Command posts can be established ahead of time to deal with the impact, and facilities can prepare for the onslaught that will be headed their way.