First evacuations as Wilma grows more intense
Monroe County officials have ordered visitors out of Florida Keys ahead of Hurricane Wilma, the first US evacuations caused by the Category 5 storm.
Wilma spent most of its force at sea on the western Caribbean today.
It was on a curving course that would carry it on Friday through the narrow channel between Cuba and Mexico, where it threatened Cancun, and then on to Florida by the weekend.
It was dumping rains, some heavy, on Central America and Mexico this morning and satellite photos showed the storm’s arms covering much of Cuba.
A hurricane watch was in effect for the east coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, parts of Cuba and the Cayman Islands, and the National Hurricane Centre in Miami warned of a “significant threat” to Florida by the weekend.
At 8am, the hurricane was centred about 340 miles south-east of Cozumel, Mexico. Maximum sustained wind was 175 mph, forecasters said.
It was expected to dump up to 25 inches of rain in mountainous areas of Cuba through Friday, and up to up to 15 inches in the Caymans and Jamaica tomorrow.
Up to 12 inches was possible from Honduras through the Yucatan peninsula, the US weather service said.
Wilma’s confirmed pressure readings this morning dropped to 882 millibars - the lowest minimum pressure ever measured in a hurricane in the Atlantic basin, according to the hurricane centre.
Lower pressure translates into higher wind speed.
Forecasters said Wilma was stronger than the devastating Labour Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys in 1935, the strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall on record.
But Wilma wasn’t expected to keep its record strength for long, as disruptive high-altitude winds in the Gulf of Mexico should weaken it before landfall, said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the hurricane centre.
The strongest on record, based on the lowest pressure reading, had been Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which registered an 888 millibar reading.
US Air Force reconnaissance planes measured Wilma’s top sustained wind at 175 mph, making it a Category 5, the Hurricane Centre said.
“It does look like it poses a significant threat to Florida by the weekend. Of course, these are four- and five-day forecasts, so things can change,” said Dan Brown, a meteorologist at the Hurricane Centre.
Jamaica, Cuba, Nicaragua and Honduras were getting heavy rain from the storm, though it wasn’t likely to make landfall in any of those countries.
With heavy rain, high winds, and rough seas already pounding coastal areas, flood-prone Honduras warned that Wilma posed “an imminent threat to life and property” and closed two seaports on its Caribbean coast. Neighbouring Nicaragua and the Cayman Islands also were on alert.
Honduras and its neighbours are already recovering from flooding and mudslides caused earlier this month from storms related to Hurricane Stan.
At least 796 people were killed, most of them in Guatemala, with many more still missing.
Cuba issued a hurricane watch for the western end of the island from Matanzas to Pinar del Rio, as well as the Isle of Youth. Mexico issued a hurricane watch for nearly all of its Caribbean coast from Punta Gruesa to Cabo Catoche, an area that includes the resort of Cancun.
Wilma already had been blamed for one death in Jamaica as a tropical depression on Sunday.
It has flooded several low-lying communities and triggered mudslides that blocked roads and damaged several homes, said Barbara Carby, head of Jamaica’s emergency management office.
She said that some 250 people were in shelters throughout the island.
Although the storm was not expected to approach Florida until the weekend, some residents began buying water, canned food and other emergency supplies early.
Many said they take every storm seriously now, after witnessing the devastation from a succession of hurricanes that have ravaged the southern United States.
“People have learned their lesson and know better how to prepare. We’re not waiting until the last minute anymore,” said Andrea Yerger, 48, of Port Charlotte, Florida. She was buying material to protect her house, which had to be gutted because of extensive damage from Hurricane Charley last year.
Wilma’s track could take it near Punta Gorda on Florida’s south-western Gulf Coast and other areas in the state hit by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, in August 2004.
In the Cayman Islands, authorities urged businesses to close early yesterday to give employees time to prepare for the storm. Schools were ordered to close today.
In Mexico, the MTV Latin America Video Music Awards ceremony, originally scheduled to be held tomorrow at a seaside park south of Cancun, were moved up one day to avoid possible effects from Wilma.
Forecasters said Wilma should avoid the central US Gulf coast devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita earlier this year which killed more than 1,200 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
The storm is the record-tying 12th hurricane of the season, the same number reached in 1969. That is the most for one season since record-keeping began in 1851.
On Monday, Wilma became the Atlantic hurricane season’s 21st named storm, tying the record set in 1933 and exhausting the list of names for this year.
The six-month hurricane season does not end until November 30.
Any new storms would be named with letters from the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha.
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