South Florida’s fate rests this weekend on Mexico’s misfortune.
The longer the storm lumbers over the Yucatan Peninsula, the better the chances that a weakened system will stagger toward the Sunshine State. Until then, Floridians hunkered down for a long, tense weekend waiting for Wilma to arrive sometime Monday.
Forecasters urged residents to get ready for a fierce storm that they fear will slash right through the state.
The Category 4 storm was expected to pummel the tip of the Yucatan for two days, sparking fears of catastrophic damage.
The key is when and where the hurricane piggybacks on a cold front blowing across the Gulf of Mexico and makes a sharp, right-hand turn for South Florida. Three computer models used by forecasters have the storm moving on a northeasterly course that enters the state through Naples and exits around West Palm Beach.
“If it stays over the Yucatan for any significant length of time and much of the circulation is over land … that would obviously be terrible news for Mexico,” said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, “but for the United States interests, it means that we’ll have a weaker hurricane coming out into the Gulf of Mexico and it will be slower in getting here.”
Wilma smashed into Mexico’s resort-filled eastern coastline Friday afternoon, pummeling Cozumel island and the Yucatan’s tip where thousands of Mexicans and stranded foreign tourists were hunkered down in homes, shelters and hotel ballrooms. Authorities were bracing for devastating floods as the slow-moving storm lingers.
Worried that South Floridians could let down their guard, Mayfield and other officials repeatedly stressed Friday that the predicted track carrying Wilma straight through Florida still held.
Wilma could be as weak as a tropical storm, or as large as a Category 2 hurricane with 110 m.p.h. winds. But Mayfield urged Floridians to take it seriously.
“This `delay’ is a good thing,” he said. “It gives us time to prepare.”
There were signs that those warnings were heeded.
Collier County launched its mandatory evacuation of Naples and coastal areas Friday while in the Keys authorities urged residents to start leaving voluntarily. Northbound traffic on Interstate 75 leaving the Naples and Ft. Myers area early Friday was backed up.
In Punta Gorda, which was crushed by Hurricane Charley last year, workers spent Friday morning boarding up city hall and other downtown homes and buildings. Many dilapidated homes and buildings remain in the area as a reminder of last year’s devastation.
Across the state, in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, officials bided their time until the storm’s timing and course become clearer.
In Mexico, winds blasted waves across streets flooded 3 feet deep at some places in Cancun, about 35 miles north of Cozumel. Power had been cut earlier in the day as an emergency precaution. High winds bent palm trees and rough seas gobbled the city’s white-sand beaches. Nearly 50 hotels were evacuated, leaving the normally busy tourist zone deserted.
Officials said damage assessment teams couldn’t reach Cozumel until late Saturday at the earliest. But Quintana Roo Gov. Felix Gonzalez Cantu, whose state includes Cancun, said the storm had caused “great destruction.”
