I am scheduled to fly to Miami this weekend. I will be there for two days. I had planned on visiting Key West one day and the Everglades on the other day. How has Hurricane Wilma affected these areas? Should I cancel my trip? Thanks for any help fodorites can provide.

My understanding is that Miami and the Keys have a lot of damage. I would definatly put off your trip if you're able. I don't think you'd be able to get down to the Keys at all.

We're supposed to go in two weeks. I called our hotel and a couple restaurants today; they were all open and had power, but they did say there is a lot of damage in the city. My brother lives in that county and he says it is a mess. Utility companies are telling them they won't be fully operational for 3-4 weeks! His town has a 7m-7:am curfew. I'm not cancelling yet for two weeks away, but I hate to say I'd be torn if I were supposed to be there this weekend. What are you going to do?

tcapp and Dreamer2, thank you for your replies. I am still undeceided, I am currently in Asia, so I have little news coverage of Hurricane Wilma. I have phoned the hotel I where I have a reservation and they are telling me that they have had no damage to their property. I am supposed to fly to Miami on Saturday. I still have a few days to deceide what to do and make any necessary changes to my travel plans. Any advise from fodorites would be appreciated.

Here is what I can put in the mix. The International Boat Show was cancelled for the first time in history b/c it is such a mess down there. It was to start on Thursday, then they hoped for Saturday, and now they have cancelled b/c of the devastation in Miami. We were on the phones all day figuring out what was going to happen (we are participants in the show) they are hoping perhaps to have it in 3 weeks when they think everything will be in better shape, b/c it will be a huge economic impact on the city if it is cancelled as it brings much to the local economy, but the devastation is incredible. Hotels our employees were set to stay in were moving people to other locations b/c of lack of electricity, curfews, lack of supplies, etc. You were lucky to get through to your hotel, it took us five hours. My inlaws live about 30 min outside of Miami and were told it could be ten days or more before they see electricity. My girlfriend in the outskirts of Miami was told 2 wks. While Naples didn't get as much damage, trees and power lines are down, there was damage to some major water mains, etc. and the Immokalee area was quite damaged. The keys had 60% of the homes and businesses experiencing flood damage. My inlaws were in line for 50 minutes for gas today and late getting home for curfew. They prefer you not even drive during day if you have to, b/c of the debris. Night curfew is still in effect and although it is only day one, who knows what tomorrow will bring. Impossible to clean all that up in 48 hrs. Traffic is a mess b/c of debris, flooding and of course, the traffic lights are not working so curfew is in effect from 7pm until 6am each day for now. The hospitals are still running on generators. The Miami airport did open today. All things considered, if you could postpone trip I would think you would have better trip after they have had time to react to the devastation and get utilities all back on line. Plus recover emotionally. I am thinking it won't be a "happy area" for tourists to visit and get the most of. Part of the beauty of the keys,, Miami, waterfront, etc will not be fun to see, there are trees down everywhere and road detours. As of tonight, our in laws were thinking of flying up north for a few weeks rather than sit w/out power, etc. If I hear anything more detailed from them tomorrow I will post.

Holy cow! Thanks for the update.

I wondered what they were going to do about the boat show. Looks like it has been rescheduled for November 3-5.

At present time, one-third of Florida's entire population is without power, 3.2 million of those are in Miami-Dade, Broward, and south Palm Beach counties. Headline today's SPTimes: "S. Florida Could Stay In the Dark for Weeks". There is an 8P-6A curfew -- for adults too! Gas station can't pump w/o elec. There is no ice, people stood in lines yesterday up to 6 hrs. to get ice. Miami did not prepare for this storm and is in bad shape. FLL & W. Palm airports were still closed yesterday.

Stay away for your own safety and well-being.

"Miami did not prepare for this storm and is in bad shape."

I can't disagree more with this statement. After Katrina took everyone by surprise a few months back, I saw most veryone had their shutters up, cars gassed, water bought, etc. People were out clearing trees as soon as the winds came down a bit- as early as 2:00 pm on monday. Where after Katrina people were blowing thru intersections without traffic lights, now behaviour is much better, and local police moved quickly to block off crossing traffic in many places anyway. Overall, I think the peopls of Dade country prepared very well for this storm- because they learned their lesson when Katrina went thru.

the lauderdale int'l boat show has been rescheduled for nov 3-7, although some can't imagine it. friends who are in ft. l say their neighbors don't have roofs, he is helping siphon gas from stranded boats to use for generators, Rte A1A is closed in many sections and cars are overturned, trees, etc. people were as prepared as they can be but mother nature can cause extreme devastation that we simply can't prepare for. some people expect to be w/out power for weeks. for some of our employees that need to go to boat show, we are having gtrouble in ft. l even finding hotels that will take reservations. while this isn't miami, miami is also having difficulties with demolished property, utilities and road signs beieng torn down, etc. people are dealing with massive problems, so I don't know if it's the ideal time to arrive as a tourists with a "we're here to enjoy your area" - try going on line and see what you can find for yourself, but if this trip is purely pleasure I would think about postponing. some people are feeling awkward about even going forward with "exciting" plans for expos/boat shows/tours when people are recovering from such a storm....maybe they'll be in great shape in two weeks, but in a few days, I'm thinking things will still be traumatic in florida.

RJames,
Did you go? Can you report back and let us know how you found it?
Thanks for any first-hand info!

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know I was in Miami for the weekend, I left Miami this morning. I was able to go to the Everglades and Key West. Key West has alot of damage. Stayed in South Beach, had no problems. I heard that some areas of the city still do not have power and many events are cancelled. Miami is slowly getting back to normal. If any of you are planning on going to Miami, I hope this helps you to make your decision.

Thanks for your reply!