|
Wilma forces Caribbean tourists to flee
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-20 12:56 Tourists packed Cancun's airport even though skies were still partly sunny,
looking for flights home or to other resorts. MTV postponed its Video Music
Awards Latin America ceremony, originally scheduled for Thursday at a seaside
park south of the resort town.
Mark Carara cut his family's vacation short by two days and tried to get on a
standby flight home to Colorado Springs, Colo. "You hear it was the biggest
storm on record, and yeah, that was the clincher right there," he said. "It was
time for us to go."
This NOAA satellite
image taken Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005, at 2:15 a.m. EDT shows thick clouds
associated with Hurricane Wilma centered west-southwest of Jamaica. The
storm is expected to remain a strong hurricane the next few days while
moving north-northwest through the Yucatan Channel. Over land, low clouds
can be seen over parts of the Northeast, but few clouds can be seen over
the Southeast. The extreme northern portion of Michigan is experiencing
light showers from clouds over the region, while thunderstorms are making
their way into the Southern Plains. [AP] | John
Hyndman, a 59-year-old electrician from Ottawa said his hotel had asked guests
to leave. "I think people are more panicked just about what a hurricane can do,"
he said. "It can be very scary."
Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located, announced that hundreds of
schools would be closed Thursday and Friday, and many will be prepared to serve
as shelters for expected evacuations.
Floridians braced for the storm by boarding up windows and stocking up on
supplies, although forecasters at the hurricane center said the forward motion
of the storm appeared to be slowing, which could cause it to eventually weaken.
Predictions differed on the hurricane's path and how strong it would be when
it reaches U.S. shores. Though some weakening was expected by Thursday, the
"potential for large loss of life is with us," said Max Mayfield, director of
the U.S. hurricane center.
"This is one of those cases where we have a tremendous amount of
uncertainty," said Mayfield. Referring to Wilma's explosive two-day growth from
a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane, Mayfield said "this is one of the
most perplexing storms we have had to deal with" this year.
At 11 p.m. EDT, Wilma was centered about 235 miles southeast of Cozumel,
Mexico. It was moving west-northwest near 8 mph, with some wobbles, forecasters
said. Forecasters warned it could re-intensify Thursday as it turns to the
northwest.
Wilma's record-level intensity was measured in its pressure. Confirmed
pressure readings early Wednesday dropped to 882 millibars, the lowest minimum
pressure ever measured in a hurricane in the Americas, but it later lost power
and rose to 892 millibars, according to the hurricane center. Lower pressure
translates into higher wind speed.
|
