In April, 2005 I served as Writer-in-Residence in Everglades National Park, living in a National Park Service cottage and trying to learn as much as possible about the park. This past November I revisited the area, primarily to survey the damage done to the park by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in the fall of 2005. Most of the damage occurred in the park's Flamingo area, which is the southernmost tip of the Florida mainland.
Most of the damage was done not by high winds, but by the huge storm surges that came out of Florida Bay, covering the entire area with mud. The Flamingo Lodge and its surrounding cottages have been put out of commission indefinitely. The park just finished a public comment period in which people offered their suggestions of what to do about the area; it appears that people overwhelming want to see some lodging and dining facilities return.
I'm working on an article about what happened and what will happen to the area in the future, although I have yet to find a taker for it. I spent about a month in the area when I was Writer-in-Residence, so it's close to me as a subject. Even if I don't find a taker for the article, I'd like to write it anyway, just as documentation.
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