Days after Wilma, Florida's weakest face new threats

MIAMI — Still largely without power and somewhat fuel-challenged, South Florida confronted a new issue Saturday in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma: storm-related injuries, jammed emergency rooms and deteriorating conditions for the ill, the frail and the elderly.

"If the power isn't restored to the high-rises soon, we're going to be seeing some real medical problems in the elderly, and quite possibly some dead," said Michael Weston, fire-rescue medical director for Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale.

Mary Gaiter has high blood pressure, bursitis, arthritis, asthma and a leaky heart valve. "You name it, I got it," the 75-year-old widow says.

The hurricane left her without power to run the oxygen she needs 24 hours a day, and Gaiter, who lives in a 12-story public-housing tower for low-income senior citizens, was down to her last few portable oxygen units.

Like Gaiter, neighbor Lourene Mack, 76, relies on a portable oxygen tank, and her battery-powered wheelchair was in need of recharging. "I'm on my last three dots right now," Mack said. "We need help in this building."

Residents said the situation was particularly grim in portions of Century Village, a sprawling condominium community east of Fort Lauderdale with 15,000 predominantly elderly residents. Power had been restored to only about half of the development.

Scores of frail people there and elsewhere have been unable to leave their upper-level apartments since the storm struck Monday because elevators are out of service, and many people are too frail to walk downstairs unaided. Others were beginning to feel the effects of rising temperatures without the comfort of air conditioning.

Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., wrote to Florida Power & Light asking the company to add senior-citizen enclaves, like the area's many large seniors-only condo communities, to the list of priority places for quick power restoration.

"We've got these seniors calling every single day that are desperate to get their power back on," said Lale Mamaux, Wexler's spokeswoman.

For many elderly residents, there was no relief. The elevator was out at a three-story complex in suburban Fort Lauderdale, stranding residents unable to use the stairs. Hyman Tepper, 81, walked 3 ½ miles to and from a grocery that had little food.

"I've been eating pretzels and water," said Tepper, a retired watchmaker and jeweler at Tiffany's in New York. "That's all I had."

Neighbor Irving Schwab, who normally uses a wheelchair, was forced to walk down two flights of stairs to go to a safer apartment. "There was no choice," said his wife, Dorothy. "He wasn't going to slide down the banister."

Around the region, particularly in Broward County, north of Miami, some people dependent on oxygen flocked to emergency rooms after depleting supplies at home. Hospitals reported injuries from car crashes at unregulated intersections, falls from ladders, and burns from barbecues and generators. After nearly a week without power and refrigeration, food poisoning emerged as an issue.

The scenes contrasted sharply with the situation in Miami Beach, Weston and other areas, where some shopped, dined and generally enjoyed a pleasant autumn day.

The primary difference: electricity.

Hurricane Wilma knocked out electricity service to more than 3.2 million customers when it swept through South Florida. Florida Power & Light reported Saturday that it had restored service to 60 percent of those, but 1.29 million customers were still waiting for electricity in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Though the vast majority of customers will have power in the coming days, the utility said, full service might not be restored until Nov. 22.

Lack of power will keep public schools closed Monday throughout the region and possibly all of next week. But the restoration of power at many gasoline stations produced notably shorter lines for motorists needing to refuel, though some people still waited more than an hour to fill up.

Several cities in Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, North Lauderdale and Tamarac, still did not have potable tap water, and only 6 percent of the county's traffic lights were in operation.

Meanwhile, public-health officials and hurricane experts issued urgent alerts to South Floridians: Be careful. The post-Wilma cleanup can be as lethal as the storm.

Wilma already was responsible for 14 deaths in Florida, including five from carbon-monoxide poisoning, apparently related to improper use of portable generators, and police urged people to keep generators outside.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue handled about 120 serious injury calls on Monday, when Wilma struck. It handled nearly 150 Friday, four days later.

In Broward, the number of calls for help increased substantially as the week ended, often coming from people who had run out of medicine or oxygen.

Material from The Associated Press

is included in this report.