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Wilma 'rockets' toward Florida
23/10/2005 17:59 - (SA)
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| This image provided by NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Project shows hurricane Wilma moving off the Mexican coast towards Florida (NASA, AP) |
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Key West, Florida - Thousands of residents had been ordered to evacuate on Sunday and businesses and emergency officials prepared rescue and relief plans as forecasters predicted Hurricane Wilma would pick up speed "like a rocket" on a course toward Florida.
The southern half of Florida's peninsula was under a hurricane warning on Sunday in anticipation of Wilma, a category 2 storm with 161 kph sustained wind. Although still far from the state, Wilma's outer bands of rain had already caused street flooding in a South Florida suburb.
Tropical storm-force wind was expected to begin lashing the state late on Sunday and meteorologists said the heart of the storm was expected to roar across the state on Monday.
"The time of preparing is rapidly moving into time of action as people are evacuating," Florida emergency management director Craig Fugate said.
About 850 people had registered on Sunday at a Red Cross shelter in Fort Myers, with some pitching tents and setting out mats on the still-melting ice where the Florida Everblades minor league hockey team plays.
"I'm just doing a lot of praying that things will work out," said David Bright, 48. "I'm born and raised right here in Fort Myers, Florida and just know you don't play with (hurricanes)."
Wilma had been joined by Tropical Storm Alpha, which formed on Saturday south of the Dominican Republic as the record 22nd named storm for the Atlantic season. It was the first time forecasters exhausted the regular list of names and had to turn to the Greek alphabet for labels in almost 60 years of naming storms. The previous record of 21 tropical storms and hurricanes had stood since 1933.
By 11:00 on Sunday, Wilma was centered about 460km west-southwest of Key West, and was moving toward the northeast at about 13 kph.
Hurricane center director Max Mayfield predicted Wilma would dramatically pick up speed later on Sunday and its top wind speed would increase.
"It's really going to take off like a rocket," he said.
- AP
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