High Wind in Coastal Palm Beach, Florida

Sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts near 45 mph buffeted south Florida following the passage of a cold front. A 50-year old man was killed when the winds toppled a concrete wall around 3 pm at a liquor store construction site in Boynton Beach. Power outages from falling branches left 26,000 electrical customers withouth service for several hours. The strong winds caused rough surf conditions and drove a 280-feet barge aground near the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach. Numerous small brush fires spread rapidly by the wind, briefly threatened some residences in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.