By Linda Fudala-Tucker

Hurricane Wilma turned out to be little more than a tree-trimmer on Gasparilla Island instead of a roof-ripper as Charley had been, much to the relief of everyone.

On Monday, the Category 3 storm at about 6:30 a.m. came in on Cape Romano about 22 miles south of Naples with top winds of 125 mph. On Gasparilla Island top winds reached 43 mph sustained with gusts of 56 mph recorded at 9:14 a.m., said Jim Cooper, Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority executive director.

The winds didn't let up, however, and continued throughout the day and into the early evening hours because of a cold front moving in right behind Wilma.

This large branch on Palm Ave. was a casualty of Hurricane Wilma, but little damage was to be found elsewhere on the island.

"The funny thing is the winds actually picked up a bit at 45 mph sustained with a gusts of 57 mph at 1:04 p.m. due to the cold front that changed the wind direction to a more westerly direction," said Cooper.

The wind was strong enough to take down a couple of trees, but mostly just trimmed small branches and dead foliage. One electric pole was leaning near the Community Center but power outages were brief if at all. A few shingles

of new roofing on the lighthouse were also blown off but flooding was not a problem.

Bob Green at the Community Center reported a 30-ft. coconut palm that would need to come down. "The top of the tree blew off and some stop signs were turned around," he said. "But for the most part, I think Wilma was a landscape trimming event."

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