Newswire

Hurricane Wilma

Florida Raises Wilma Death Toll to 10
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Authorities raised Florida's death toll from Hurricane Wilma from five to 10 Wednesday and urged the storm's survivors to have patience as they endured long waits for food, water and other necessities. The 21st storm in the busiest Atlantic hurricane season on record, Wilma killed at least 12 people in Haiti, four in Mexico and one in Jamaica before hitting Florida. State emergency management director Craig Fugate said Wednesday that Florida's death toll was 10, up from the five deaths previously reported.

A look at deaths blamed on Hurricane Wilma
MIAMI -- State officials say Hurricane Wilma killed 10 people in Florida. Wilma swept through the southern half of the state early Monday morning as a Category 3 hurricane with winds in excess of 100 mph.

Most of South Florida without power
Army of FPL workers make progress on restoring power
Florida Power & Light Co. has brought so many workers into the state in recent days -- about 2,000 have joined the 8,000-strong workforce in the last 24 hours -- that the company had to set up tent cities for workers at Calder Racetrack in Miami, as well as sites in St. Lucie and Fort Myers. Outside workers are arriving from 33 states and Canada, the company said, and 2,600 more are expected by Sunday.

It’s Expected To Take Weeks To Restore Power
And Water Service To Storm-Battered Region
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Repair crews across Florida struggled Tuesday to restore electricity to up to 6 million people, reopen the region’s airports and replace windows blown out of downtown high-rises during Hurricane Wilma’s ruinous dash across the state. Officials said it could take weeks for Florida’s most heavily populated region — the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach area — to return to normal.

October 25, 2005

Five deaths blamed on Wilma
WESTON, Fla. -- A day after Hurricane Wilma swept through the state, Florida residents are lining up for supplies outside the stores that are able to open. Millions of businesses and homes remain without power and officials warn it could take weeks for utilities to be restored. Meanwhile, officials now confirm five deaths from the storm in Florida -- not six, as they earlier reported.

Wilma Leaves at Least 6 Dead, 6M Without Power in Florida
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Hurricane Wilma knifed through Florida with winds up to 125 mph Monday, shattering windows in skyscrapers, peeling away roofs and knocking out power to 6 million people, with still a month left to go in the busiest Atlantic storm season on record. At least six deaths were blamed on the hurricane in Florida, bringing the toll from the storm's march through the tropics to 25.

October 24, 2005

Wilma Batters Florida; One Death Reported
NAPLES, Fla. -- Hurricane Wilma plowed into southwest Florida early Monday with howling 125 mph winds and pounding waves, swamping Key West and knocking out power to millions of people as it dashed across the state toward Miami and Fort Lauderdale. At least one death in Florida was blamed on the storm. The same storm that brought ruin over the weekend to resort towns along Mexico's Yucatan Coast came ashore in Florida as a strong Category 3 hurricane, but within 2 1/2 hours it had weakened into a Category 2 with winds of 110 mph. It flattened trees, tore off roofs and screens, littered the streets with signs and downed power lines, and turned debris into missiles.

Governor urges residents to be careful, heed officials
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's governor is warning residents not to be fooled by the calm in the very large eye of Hurricane Wilma. Jeb Bush says conditions are very dangerous as the hurricane moves across the state -- and will remain so even after the storm passes. He says he's had reports of significant flooding from the storm surge in parts of the Florida Keys. He says several tornadoes have been reported. And as many as two and a-half (m) million homes have lost power. Crews will work to restore service first to critical facilities such as hospitals.

Hurricane Wilma crashes into Florida
Crashing through the state's back door, Hurricane Wilma made landfall in Florida this morning as a major hurricane. Millions of people shuddered in shuttered homes as the storm roared through the lower half of the already battered state. The leading edge of its eye touching the mainland at Cape Romano as a major hurricane. Landfall came just before 6:30 a.m., about 20 miles south of Marco Island along the lower Gulf Coast. Wilma is the eighth hurricane to strike or brush Florida in 14 months.

October 23, 2005

Wilma Heads for Fla. As Category 2 Storm
KEY WEST, Fla. -- Hurricane Wilma churned toward Florida on Sunday as tens of thousands of residents were ordered to flee from vulnerable islands and coastal areas. Forecasters predicted the storm would pick up speed "like a rocket" after flooding the Mexican coast. The southern half of Florida's peninsula was under a hurricane warning Sunday in anticipation of Wilma, a Category 2 storm with 100 mph sustained wind. Landfall was expected around dawn Monday.

Hurricane Wilma aims at Florida after Mexico chaos
CANCUN, Mexico -- Hurricane Wilma bore down on Florida on Sunday after devastating Mexico's Caribbean resorts with flood water and wild winds that smashed thousands of homes and killed at least seven people. Dazed tourists waded through knee-deep water in the streets of Cancun, one of the world's top beach spots, to seek food and water after three nights in damp shelters without electricity. "People are starting to get sick. Some of the elderly people are becoming ill. There is water but they are telling us to conserve it," said American Doug Ruby, a computer security programmer.

Wilma kills eight in Mexico, heads for US
CANCUN, Mexico -- Reinvigorated after a deadly strike on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, Hurricane Wilma roared 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.

October 22, 2005

Tropical Storm Alpha forms
KEY WEST, Fla. -- A hurricane watch has been issued for the entire southern Florida peninsula ahead of Hurricane Wilma. The Florida Keys were clearing out under a mandatory evacuation order. And at the same time, a record 22nd tropical storm -- Alpha -- formed in the Atlantic. Wilma was the last entry on the 21-name list for storms this season. So for the first time in almost 60 years of naming storms forecasters switched to the 24 letters in the Greek alphabet.

Wilma's 120 Mph Winds Rip Mexico's Yucatan
CANCUN, Mexico -- Ocean waves surged over the narrow strip of land holding Cancun's resort hotels Saturday as Hurricane Wilma crawled over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, keeping some 30,000 tourists huddled in hotels and shelters amid shrieking winds and shattering glass. The slow advance of the storm, which killed 13 people in Haiti and Jamaica last week, gave Florida more time to prepare but meant another day of misery for people riding out 120 mph winds and flooding in hot, leaky shelters with little food and water.

October 21, 2005

Deadly Wilma Officially Makes Landfall
CANCUN, Mexico -- Hurricane Wilma tore into Mexico's resort-studded Mayan Riviera on Friday with torrential rains and shrieking winds, filling the streets with water as thousands of stranded tourists hunkered down in hotel ballrooms and emergency shelters. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wilma officially made landfall about 4:30 p.m. EDT, with the center of the storm's eye hitting the cruise-ship magnet island of Cozumel. The fearsome Category 4 storm, which killed 13 people in Haiti and Jamaica, was expected to pummel the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula for two days, sparking fears of catastrophic damage. It is forecast to sideswipe Cuba before bearing down on Florida.

October 20, 2005

Emergency Declared in Fla. As Wilma Slows
NAPLES, Fla. -- The governor declared a state of emergency Thursday ahead of approaching Hurricane Wilma, but the state got a little breathing room when the storm's slower pace postponed its likely landfall. National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said the slowdown could weaken the hurricane from a Category 4 storm to a Category 3 or less before it strikes Florida's southwest coast sometime Sunday — a day later than previously thought. He said weather conditions will be less favorable for storm strengthening once Wilma enters the Gulf of Mexico.

Wilma Delayed:
Hurricane Wilma will not reach South Florida as quickly as previously expected. However, those that live there should not let their guard down. The reason the storm will be late is that it will miss a connection with the jet stream. If it had been picked up by the westerlies right away, it would have reached Florida Saturday then raced up the Eastern Seaboard Sunday and Monday. Doubt was cast on that notion late Wednesday, and by Thursday it was quite obvious that the storm was going to move much slower. Hurricane Wilma will punish the northern Yucatan for a day or so, then it will finally move to the northeast. That will bring the storm within striking distance of South Florida Sunday afternoon.

Hurricane Wilma roars toward Cancun
CANCUN, Mexico -- Much of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula was under a hurricane warning Thursday, as Hurricane Wilma swirled off its eastern shore. Forecasters pushed back their prediction of when the storm might hit Florida. Tourists were ordered to leave the Florida Keys, and everyone was told to evacuate the island of Isla Mujeres, near Cancun. Authorities were poised to move out thousands of others Thursday from low-lying areas in a 600-mile swath covering Cuba, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and the Cayman Islands.

Officials order Florida Keys evacuation
Much of Florida went on high alert Wednesday as Wilma exploded into the most intense hurricane on record and remained on a course that could pummel South Florida on Saturday with winds as high as 120 mph and driving rains. Officials in the Keys ordered mandatory evacuations starting today. In South Florida, coastal residents and those in mobile homes might be ordered to evacuate by Friday.

October 19, 2005

Bands of runoff from Katrina spread to Fla.
ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — A plume of green runoff from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters has spread from the Louisiana coast and across the Gulf of Mexico. One 7-mile-wide band has drifted more than 500 miles toward southwestern Florida, where the Gulf Stream, a powerful ocean current, is likely to carry it up the Atlantic Coast.

Posted by Editor at October 27, 2005 01:31 AM