CANCUN, Mexico (21 Oct 2005) -- Reinvigorated after a deadly strike on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, Hurricane Wilma roared Sunday toward Florida where storm-weary US authorities ordered mass evacuations. Wilma killed at least eight people in Mexican tourist resorts, and the Caribbean braced for more trouble as Tropical Storm Alpha also gathered strength, having become the record 22nd storm of the Atlantic season. Looters were out on the streets of the resort of Cancun as Wilma headed out into the Gulf of Mexico leaving more than one metre (three feet) of floods that stopped police preventing thefts. Four bodies were found on the island of Cozumel, where there has been three days of torrential rain and roofs were ripped off many buildings. The governor of Quintana Roo state said two people died in Playa del Carmen, one in Cancun and a fourth in Yucatan state crushed by a tree. Two fishermen were also missing at sea. More than 71,000 people, many of them foreign tourists, remained in emergency shelters for a third day, unable to leave because of the floods and damage. Despite lingering winds, scores of looters were out at dawn in Cancun, raiding electrical stores for televisions, washing machines and other goods. They also targeted book stores and clothing chains where only the plastic mannequins were left. About 250 federal police reinforcements were expected in the region on Sunday. President Vicente Fox was also to tour stricken towns. The storm wiped out electricity and telephone lines, and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Playa del Carmen. "Playa is destroyed," said Moises Ramirez, the town's civil defense chief. Wilma also inflicted widespread damage on a naval base on Cozumel, officials said. Cozumel, famous among skin and scuba divers, lay devastated following the storm, with streets flooded, according to the interior ministry. At 1800 GMT, Wilma was about 390 kilometers (240 miles) southwest of Key West in Florida, the US National Hurricane Center said. the hurricane is expected to hit the US coast on Monday. A category two storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, it was still packing winds of nearly 160 km (100 miles) per hour and could strengthen during the day, the US monitors said. Cuba, which could feel the storm on Sunday, has evacuated more 630,000 people from coastal districts in Wilma's path. The Bahamas government has also issued a hurricane warning for its northwest areas. | | Hurricane Wilma hits Florida Florida authorities have ordered the mandatory evacuation of 80,000 residents of the Florida Keys islands. Despite appeals from Florida governor Jeb Bush, many have ignored the call. The southern United States has already seen four hurricanes this year. Hurricane Rita left more than 1,200 dead on the US Gulf Coast. Many residents of Florida have still not cleared up the damage From other hurricanes over the past year. At the Country Village Condominiums in Fort Lauderdale, on the western coast, where Wilma is expected to hit, the roofs of the homes of Carmen Keay and her neighbors still have blue tarpaulin covers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Hurricane Frances last year. But Keay and some of her neighbors, who were expecting to have new roofs built in the next two weeks, say they plan to stay home even if Wilma comes their way. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Alpha closed in on the Dominican Republic early Sunday. "Alpha becomes the 22nd named storm of the season and breaks the all-time record for the most active season on record," the National Hurricane Center said. At 0900 GMT, the center of the storm was just southeast of Barahona in the Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds near 85 kilometers (50 miles) per hour, the NHC said. The NHC does not use the letters X, Y or Z to name storms. This is the first time it has exhausted the Roman alphabet and has had to resort to the Greek one to name storms in the Atlantic basin. |
