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Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Wilma becomes Cat 5, heads for Florida ť

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Topic: Wilma becomes Cat 5, heads for Florida (Read 140 times)

Rhune
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Wilma becomes Cat 5, heads for Florida
« on: Oct 19^th, 2005, 11:25am »

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Florida Keys prepare for Hurricane Wilma
Category 5 storm could reach Florida by weekend

Wednesday, October 19, 2005; Posted: 12:19 p.m. EDT (16:19 GMT)

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Officials ordered non-residents in the Florida Keys to evacuate Wednesday in advance of Hurricane Wilma, a dangerous Category 5 storm that's days away from its projected landfall near the island chain.

"We had well over a thousand lives lost in Katrina," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida. "If Wilma comes into the Florida coast as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, that potential for large loss of life is with us here with this hurricane."

Forecasters said the storm -- off Mexico with 175 mph sustained winds -- registered the lowest-recorded barometric pressure of any Atlantic basin hurricane -- an indication of its intensity. (Watch Mayfield's warning about Hurricane Wilma -- 3:19)

At 11 a.m. ET, Mexico issued a hurricane warning from San Felipe to Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula, including Cozumel, the hurricane center said.

Forecasters said Wilma could make landfall along southwestern Florida as soon as the weekend with tropical storm force winds of at least 39 mph in the Keys beginning late Friday.

"I will assure you that if this one makes landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida, there will be a tremendous storm surge," Mayfield said. "And if it's a Category 4, we could easily have 15 to 20 feet near and south of where the center crosses the coast with up to even 25 feet up into the bays and the rivers."

The storm set a record Wednesday when the NHC reported Wilma's barometric pressure at 882 millibars -- below the 1988 record of 888 millibars set by Hurricane Gilbert. Storms with low barometric pressure are typically more intense.

Floridians stock up
Projections for Wilma's path suggest the storm may skirt the western tip of Cuba on Friday, possibly as a Category 4 storm with winds of greater than 130 mph, before curving eastward and heading toward the southwestern Florida coast.

In Florida, residents stocked up on supplies. "I think since Katrina, everyone is more apprehensive about the situation as far as hurricanes go," Pat Schmidt, 74, told The Associated Press while shopping at a Port Charlotte store.

Andrea Yerger, 48, of Port Charlotte, was buying material to protect her house in advance of Wilma. "People have learned their lesson and know better how to prepare," she told AP. "We're not waiting till the last minute anymore." (Full story)

Monroe County officials Wednesday ordered tourists to leave the Florida Keys beginning at noon, closed state parks and lifted the toll on the bridge that connects the Keys with mainland Florida.

Forecasters warned that Wilma is a "catastrophic" Category 5 storm -- the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward about 50 miles from the eye, and tropical-storm-force winds stretch up to 160 miles from the center.

Wilma strengthened on Wednesday within a matter of a few hours -- at 1 a.m. ET, the hurricane center reported the storm had 150 mph winds, taking it from a Category 2 to a Category 4. Just 90 minutes later, the center reported Wilma had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and higher gusts.

The long-range forecast has Wilma weakening to a Category 3 by Saturday, before hitting the United States. Because hurricanes' movements are so erratic, such long-term forecasts often change.

At 11 a.m. ET, the center of the storm was about 325 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. It was moving west-northwest at nearly 7 mph and is expected to turn to the northwest over the next 24 hours, the hurricane center said.

Year's third Category 5
Wilma is the third Category 5 storm this year, preceded by Hurricane Katrina, which killed thousands when it slammed into the Gulf Coast on August 29, and Hurricane Rita, which followed weeks later.

The center said it did not know if that was a record because it does not track the number of Category 5 hurricanes in a season.

Wilma, however, did tie two other records Tuesday -- that of the most hurricanes in a season: 12; and the most named storms in a season: 21.

The only other time 12 hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic was in 1969, according to the hurricane center. The most major hurricanes in a year was eight, in 1950.

Cuban hurricane watch
Cuba has issued a hurricane watch for the provinces of Matanzas westward through Pinar del Rio and for the Isle of Youth, according to the hurricane center.

A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions, including winds of at least 74 mph, are possible within 36 hours.

Cuban authorities have already evacuated residents in the eastern part of the country after the outer bands of Wilma dumped heavy rain as it passed south of the island. Schools will close at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Pinar del Rio and hospitals will discharge patients who are well enough to leave.

A stretch of the Honduran coast is under a tropical storm warning from the Nicaraguan border to Cabo Camaron. The Cayman Islands also are under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch.

The hurricane center said Cuba could get anywhere from 10 to 15 inches of rain from Wilma, with some areas getting socked with as much as 25 inches. Additional rainfall accumulations of of up to 10 inches, with up to 15 inches possible in some areas, are possible across the Cayman Islands and Jamaica through Thursday. Across the Yucatan Peninsula, rainfall of up to 6 inches is possible, with up to 12 inches in some areas.

Wilma is also the final name on the 2005 list. The hurricane center does not use some letters of the alphabet, including X, Y and Z.

If any tropical storms and subsequent hurricanes form before the season ends on November 30, they will be classified using the Greek alphabet, beginning with Alpha.

If that happens, it would be the first time since the naming of storms began in 1953, according to the hurricane center.

CNN's Chad Myers contributed to this report.

Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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